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La Revancha mine, full name Ampliación La Revancha and often known as the Chicomuselo baryte mine is a baryte mine, located in
The mine is located on North America's largest baryte deposit, located on a hill in the San Ramón village near Chicomuselo, Chiapas, Mexico. It is owned by Canadian company Blackfire Exploration.
Caracol Mining Company sold their assets to Blackfire Exploration Mexico, operated by brothers Brad and Brent Willis from Calgary. After their obtained permission to operate the mine, they named it La Revancha (
Corruption, Murder and Canadian Mining in Mexico: The Case of Blackfire Exploration and the Canadian Embassy
' Mining Watch Canada {{Portal bar, Mexico, Business, Crime Mines in Mexico 2009 controversies 2007 controversies Environmental protests
Chicomuselo
Chicomuselo is a municipality in the Mexican state of Chiapas, and also the name of the municipality's largest settlement and the seat of the municipal government. The municipality has an area of 1,043 km².
As of 2010, the municipality h ...
, in Chiapas, Mexico.
The mine located in North Americas largest baryte reserves.
The mine opened in 2007, and was met with opposition from the local community, led by activist Mariano Abarca
Mariano Abarca Roblero (1958–2009) was a community activist known for leading opposition against mining by Blackfire Exploration in his community of Chicomuselo in the state of Chiapas in Southern Mexico. He was a member of the Red Mexicana de ...
, who was assassinated in 2009. The mine was closed shortly after the assassination, briefly opened after a court appeal and then closed in 2010, after federal court appeal. In 2023, activists reported that the mine reopened.
The mine is owned by Blackfire Exploration
Blackfire Exploration Ltd. is an exploration and mining company based in Calgary, Alberta,
Canada. The company holds mineral rights in British Columbia, Canada, and Chiapas, Mexico (through its 100% owned Mexican subsidiary company: Blackfire E ...
.
Description
The mine is located on North America's largest baryte deposit, located on a hill in the San Ramón village near Chicomuselo, Chiapas, Mexico. It is owned by Canadian company Blackfire Exploration.
History
The deposit that the mine is on has been used to mine gold, copper and platinum for decades, before being operated by Caracol Mining Company from 2003 until 2006 to mineantimony
Antimony is a chemical element with the symbol Sb (from la, stibium) and atomic number 51. A lustrous gray metalloid, it is found in nature mainly as the sulfide mineral stibnite (Sb2S3). Antimony compounds have been known since ancient t ...
and baryte.
Caracol Mining Company sold their assets to Blackfire Exploration Mexico, operated by brothers Brad and Brent Willis from Calgary. After their obtained permission to operate the mine, they named it La Revancha (English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
''payback'' or ''revenge'') and opened the mine in 2007. The opening of the mine was supported by some local community and met with opposition from others, including Román López Ramírez the president of the Grecia ejido
An ''ejido'' (, from Latin ''exitum'') is an area of communal land used for agriculture in which community members have usufruct rights rather than ownership rights to land, which in Mexico is held by the Mexican state. People awarded ejidos in ...
. Ramírez accused the Government of Canada
The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown ...
of pressuring Mexican authorities into providing social assistance to the community to appease them about the mine.
Community members blocked the road the project as part of protests against the mine. Protests were led by activist Mariano Abarca
Mariano Abarca Roblero (1958–2009) was a community activist known for leading opposition against mining by Blackfire Exploration in his community of Chicomuselo in the state of Chiapas in Southern Mexico. He was a member of the Red Mexicana de ...
, who was threatened and beaten and assassinated in November 2009. Abarca had previously been assaulted by Blackfire Exploration staff.
The mine was forcibly closed by Mexican authorities on December 7, 2009 after it failed to meet environmental laws. Owners appealed, and a district judge reversed the closure in April 2010. After an appeal from the Chiapas Ministry of Environment, Housing and Natural History, the federal judiciary to reverse that decision, closing the mine again in October 2010.
In 2011, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...
raided Blackfire Exploration's offices while investigating the payment of a bribe to a Chiapas state mayor. Three staff were arrested during the raid.
In January 2023, Avispa Mídia reported that mining activity resumed.
See also
*List of mines in Mexico
This list of mines in Mexico is subsidiary to the list of mines article and lists working, defunct and future mines in the country and is organised by the primary mineral output. For practical purposes stone, marble and other quarry, quarries may ...
References
External links
* Jennifer Moore and Gillian Colgrove,Corruption, Murder and Canadian Mining in Mexico: The Case of Blackfire Exploration and the Canadian Embassy
' Mining Watch Canada {{Portal bar, Mexico, Business, Crime Mines in Mexico 2009 controversies 2007 controversies Environmental protests