Tahoe Resources Facing Royalty Increase in Guatemala

Tahoe Resources Inc. (TSX:THO,NYSE:TAHO) announced that on Friday, the Congress of Guatemala passed legislation aimed at “increas[ing] statutory royalties in the mining law.” In order to be enacted, the legislation will have to be signed into law by the country’s president.

As quoted in the press release:

If enacted, the proposed legislation would require Escobal to pay a nine percent royalty directly to the federal government and a one percent royalty to the local municipalities for a total royalty payment of 10 percent. This represents a five percent increase to the Company’s current combined statutory and voluntary regime. The proposal does not contemplate existing agreements with local and regional municipalities and replaces all current voluntary royalty agreements.

Kevin McArthur, CEO of Tahoe, commented:

It is unfortunate that Congress wants to raise royalties on precious metals at a time when the industry is struggling and facing the lowest metals prices in four years. In addition to voluntary royalty payments, the Escobal mine has been supporting a number of national, regional, and local community programs that we would expect the higher royalty payments to fund in the future.

Click here to read the full Tahoe Resources Inc. (TSX:THO,NYSE:TAHO) press release.