Great Panther Silver (TSX:GPR, StockForum), a Vancouver-based silver mining and exploration firm operating the Topia and Guanajuato mines, announced today that the company had regained entry and possession of its administration building and plant facility at its Guanajuato mine located in Mexico.
According to the news release, the mine had been over run by approximately 60 people on March 9, 2014 and the mob illegally occupied the facility until approximately 3:30pm Thursday, March 13, 2014 when the authorities gained entry to the facility and removed the illegal occupants.
The occupation was pursuant to the death of an illegal worker at the hands of guards during a violent altercation at the mine Wednesday, March 5, 2014.
There were allegations that the group consisted of members of a mining collective that had sold the mine to Great Panther, but the allegations have yet to be proved.
Robert Archer, company president and CEO, commented “I am grateful that this situation was resolved peacefully and that the facilities have been returned to Great Panther.”
He went on, “I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone who assisted in reaching this peaceful resolution in such a short period of time.”
Then added, “In particular, I would like to thank the Governor of the State of Guanajuato, the Canadian Ambassador to Mexico, the Secretary of the Economy, the General Coordinator of Mining, the Minister of the Interior and the Mayor of Guanajuato City.”
And finally concluded, “Last but not least, I want to thank our employees, our contractors and our stakeholders for their patience and loyalty throughout this very unfortunate and trying time.”
The company will spend the next few days assessing damages and theft at the site, but anticipates operations at the mine to commence in a few days.
Great Panther was in the news recently when the aforementioned mob initially took over Guanajuato mine.
Shares rose 5.34% on the news to $1.38 per share.
Currently there are 138.5m outstanding shares with a market cap of $191.2 million.