A Mexican town has been spared potential damage by a Canadian mining company, thanks in part to Canadian church leaders. For more than 10 years, the residents of Cerro de San Pedro had been fighting Canadian-owned Metallica Resources' plans to start an open-pit gold mine in their town. To help them in their plight, KAIROS (Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives) sent an ecumenical church leaders' delegation to Mexico in March to investigate the situation. Former Presbyterian moderator, Rev. Mark Lewis, reported on the visit in May. "When we left the little town we promised the people we would do all we could to prevent a Canadian company from doing such harm on foreign soil," said Lewis. "I have never seen faith move a mountain, but now I have seen faith keep a mountain in its place."
Locals said the mine would threaten the community by destroying its ecosystem, contaminating the water supply and flattening the Hill of St. Peter, which is a state symbol. In April, the protesters' prayers were answered when a federal court upheld an earlier decision that named the town a preservation area, annulling the company's mining permit.
The decision was bolstered by the convergence of the trip's delegates in Ottawa to meet with MPs, present their findings and urge the Canadian government to investigate the situation. Canadian Ambassador to Mexico, Gaëtan Lavertu later visited the 400-year-old Cerro de San Pedro – the first time an embassy official expressed any interest.
Despite the current victory, the fight is far from over. The complex controversy has so many law suits, appeals and conflicting opinions surrounding it, that the final outcome is still uncertain.
Metallica's CEO, Richard Hall, denies any claims made against his company's operations in San Pedro. "We continue to believe we are doing everything properly within the laws of Mexico," he said from his office in Denver. "We want to be contributing members of this town. Why in the world would we do something to destroy our reputation and the credit of this company when this is what we do for a living? It just doesn't pass the logic test."
Hall said Metallica has already sunk $50 million into the project – with portions of that used to protect the town from damage. They transplanted 120,000 cactus plants that, in their mining permit, were said to be valued vegetation and had to be preserved. Families have been given homes if they wish to relocate, two historical churches have been reinforced to protect them from the blasts, and local citizens would be hired to work the mine. "These are all the right things to do. They're not issues for us," said Hall. Metallica has offered to clean up waste left by other companies, and restore parts of the hill that were made unstable from previous operations. Metallica will continue to challenge the court's decision.
Cerro de San Pedro has been a mining town since the 1500s.
Thanks to the court's ruling and the hill's designation as a national monument, the town is now closer to gaining status as a UNESCO World Heritage site. "We are now calling on authorities to ensure that the mining company vacates the area and removes all of its operations," said Ana Maria Alvarado Garcia, member of the Broad Opposition Front, which led the Mexican protest. "We are calling on Canadians for their solidarity in this case of ongoing injustice."
