On February 19, our ejido will halt the Los Filos mine because mine management has refused to even respond to a letter in which we respectfully requested that they implement a clause for the inspection of contractors’ income within the mining operation project, as established in the social cooperation agreement. The clause was agreed to in this way so that the ejido can make adequate adjustments to ensure a balance in terms of income and access to employment, machinery and equipment.
It is not the first time that the company has breached its agreements, nor does it try to hide its lack of respect for us by not responding to the content of the letters we send when it comes to non-compliance or other matters related to the mine. As a result, we find it necessary to provide an update on the situation at the Los Filos project indicating that, while it is true that the company has reached an agreement with the communities of Xochipala and Mezcala, in our case the negotiations have broken down. While we have communicated directly with Mr. Greg Smith, president and CEO of Equinox Gold, there has been no clear indication about whether the company has decided to continue operating or initiate the definitive closure of the project. We presume, however, that the agreement reached with neighbouring communities is an indication of a desire to continue. If this is true, in we will not accept the same conditions agreed on with these other communities, including the incomprehensible festivity of state authorities because they simply don’t make any sense to us within the situation we are in.
We hope that today, when the company presents its annual report and presents its projections for the future of the Los Filos project among others to its board, shareholders and other associates, they take a careful look at the information they receive. If the company provides the same information that we have been dealt, then we can ensure them that it is incomplete, biased and possibly even false regarding the crisis at Los Filos. If they were to be honest, it is likely that the company would face significant financial risk that could arise at the moment of evaluating the profitability of the investment.
Once again, we reiterate that negotiations with us are currently suspended and will remain so until the company sends responsible, respectful people capable of building, together with us, a dialogue in which they stop trying to impose clauses without content or explanation, and we are no longer under pressure to sign with the repeated threat of layoffs or mine closure.
We take this opportunity to inform that Mr. Hugo Vergara, who claims to lead sustainable development initiatives on behalf of the company, has been internally using intimidating and angry behavior against our representatives and other members of the ejido. This underscores his inability to establish legitimate dialogue with us and instead acting from his position power, believes that it will help him resolve this social conflict that he has principally brought about. We will immediately hold Mr. Hugo Vergara responsible for any act of aggression towards our representatives or ejido members and thus make an appeal to the public to remain alert to possible aggressions may try to carry out against us.
Signed,
Ejido de Carrizalillo
