Toronto-listed miners push for gold in Mexico

Toronto-listed Vista Gold Corp. has hit back at what it calls misleading media criticism of its plans to mine gold in a part of Mexico near a place Jacques Cousteau liked to call the “world’s aquarium.”

Denver-based Vista came out Monday in response to what it calls misleading media coverage in Baja California Sur, Mexico.

Vista is trying to get regulatory approval to blast an open-pit mine in Baja’s Sierra la Laguna mountain range, a United Nations biosphere reserve.

The United Nations says Sierra la Laguna is important because of its freshwater supply — a rarity in mostly arid Mexico — and because its water basin drains into sea turtle spawning grounds. Whales also rely on connected estuaries.

Last week, a reported 9,000 people gathered on a local beach and formed a human SOS in protest of Vista’s plans for the Concordia mine.

But Vista said Monday Concordia complies with federal mining and environmental laws as well as all statutory obligations and responsibilities.

The proposed mine is sitting atop an area once set aside specifically for mining, a Vista spokesperson told QMI Agency earlier this month.

Fred Earnest, Vista’s president and chief operating officer, said in a release the company has had an ongoing dialogue with state authorities and is “confident” of the company’s legal right to a permit.

“We are actively pursuing all avenues to advance the project through the remaining permitting stages,” he said.

Concordia was designed to meet not only Mexican legislation but the “highest international standards for the protection of the environment and the health and safety of the proposed workforce and members of the local communities” as well.

The company said it plans to invest more than $200 million US to build a modern mining facility that would provide between 400 and 600 construction jobs and another 300 full-time positions for the mine itself.

Vista also said it plans to construct a desalination plant to meet its water needs without compromising the quality and supply of water for local communities. Open-pit mines can lead to a runoff of cyanide, an agent used to treat gold that threatens drinking water and wildlife.

The region is the main source of drinking water for as far south as Los Cabos – a popular Canadian tourist destination.

After the 10-year life of the mine, the desalination plant could become a long-term, fresh water source, Vista said.

RBC Capital is Vista’s fourth largest institutional investor behind three U.S. Funds.

Meanwhile, Pediment Gold Corp. held a special shareholders meeting in Toronto Monday morning to approve a plan that would see it become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Canada’s Argonaut Gold Inc.

Together, the pair plan to extract some 1.2 million ounces of gold from the proposed San Antonio project in Baja.