After months of criticism over alleged human rights violations at Goldcorp Inc.’s (TSX:G) Marlin mine in Guatemala, the Vancouver miner has agreed to implement new practices to ensure “broader due diligence for human rights.”
Goldcorp released a 32-page report Wednesday morning that is effectively a question-and-answer response to an independently prepared human rights assessment (HRA) presented to the company in May.
That 18-month assessment questioned Goldcorp’s human rights, environmental and consultative efforts with Guatemalans near Marlin (See “New reports reveal trouble at Goldcorp’s Guatemalan venture” – issue 1074; May 25-31, 2010).
In the latest report Goldcorp agreed to revise its stakeholder dialogue processes with the local population, improve the framework for grievances at its mines and review health monitoring processes for employees.
The company also said it would engage an independent medical expert to review the deaths of two workers at the mine and discover if there is a causal link between the deaths and industrial exposure.
Goldcorp, however, has not committed to adopt a moratorium on land acquisition around the site as was recommended in the May report.
President and CEO Chuck Jeannes said in a prepared statement: “The HRA report cites Goldcorp’s positive accomplishments in a number of areas, but we recognize that there are significant opportunities for improvement.”
The Guatemalan government announced last week that it was going to initiate a process to suspend operations at the mine and have another independent review conducted sometime in July.