Tahoe joins UNGC corporate sustainability initiative

VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – Precious metals miner Tahoe Resources has signed the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), the world's largest corporate sustainability initiative.

As an official participant of the UNGC, Tahoe joins other international businesses, including a number of industry-leading mining companies, in committing to align its strategies and operations with the ten principles of the UNGC on human rights, labour, environment and anticorruption, and take actions that advance these societal goals.

"At Tahoe, it is imperative that we are constantly mindful of the full range of impacts our business operations have on our employees, our host communities, our stakeholders and our environment. Developing strong corporate citizenship is a constant learning exercise, and we are always looking for ways to improve," stated president and CEO Ron Clayton in a press release.

As part of its commitment, Tahoe will make the UNGC and its principles part of the strategy, policy, culture and day-to-day operations of the company, and continue to engage collaboratively on programming that advances the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Tahoe stressed that it is committed to transparently providing updates on how it conducts its business, including regular communication on the company's efforts to implement and maintain the compact's principles. Tahoe will also participate in the Global Compact's Canada Local Network to work with other like-minded companies, with the aim to scale up the impact of sustainability efforts on a global level.

Tahoe, whose flagship Escobal mine, in Guatemala, continues to languish under care and maintenance following a court-ordered suspension of its mining permit in July 2017, has recently moved to reduce the mine's workforce by 25%. Continued legal delays have made the situation untenable and prompted the company to purge some 250 inactive workers.

According to the miner, the Guatemalan Constitutional Court heard appeals of the Supreme Court's decision to reinstate the Escobal mining licence on October 25, 2017. According to Guatemalan law, the Constitutional Court must rule within five calendar days of the public hearing. However, the Constitutional Court is yet to rule.

Tahoe remains optimistic that based on legal precedent, the Constitutional Court will issue a favourable ruling reinstating the mining licence and Escobal will resume production.

Tahoe’s Escobal mine is also central to a lawsuit brought by seven Guatemalan protesters, which the Court of Appeal for British Columbia in January last year ruled can be heard in the British Columbia court system. The Guatemalan protesters allege that Tahoe security guards shot at them during a protest outside the Escobal mine in 2013, and are suing the company for negligence and battery. Tahoe in March last year appealed the ruling.