Escobal Through the acquisition of Tahoe Resources in 2019, Pan American Silver acquired the Escobal mine in Guatemala. Prior to our acquisition, Escobal’s mining license had been suspended pending the completion of an International Labour Organization (ILO) 169 consultation process mandated by the Constitutional Court of Guatemala. The mine is presently on care and maintenance pending the completion of the consultation and court approval for restart. Prior to and following our acquisition of Escobal, we performed an assessment of the mine’s history to identify opportunities and preferred practices for our management of Escobal. This assessment indicated the need to: listen to stakeholders; respectfully engage; increase transparency; develop solutions collaboratively; and deliver on commitments. We also recognized the importance of respecting all groups in our Communities of Interest, including the Xinka people, their culture and values. With this in mind, we engaged with our workforce, local communities, and government to prioritize outstanding issues in need of resolution. In 2019, we undertook the following actions: • Resolving the legal action against Tahoe Resources (Settled the Garcia v. Tahoe Resources Inc. case. For more details, please click here.)
We are working toward building enduring, positive relationships with all stakeholders in the region and establishing a reputation as an honest, credible partner.
• Appointing a new country manager in Guatemala and replacing half of Escobal’s senior management team • Designating a Guatemala-based Human Rights Officer who reports to the General Counsel We also took the following steps to address concerns around security and human rights and to align ourselves with international best practices: • Appointing a new corporate director of security • Assessing and improving the alignment of our security practices with the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights as well as UNICEF Canada’s Child Rights and Security Checklist • Assessing the practices of our contract security forces • Instituting a human rights training program for Pan American Silver’s support services personnel and contract security forces While Escobal is on care and maintenance, we are complying with commitments set out in Escobal’s Environmental Management Plan. As part of these requirements, we continue to honor prior commitments made by Tahoe Resources; respond to community requests for information and support; complete community engagement activities; and report to the Government of Guatemala.
52 // 2019 SUSTAINABILITY REPORT
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