Qualla: Marlin Mine

Marlin Mine: Introduction

Sun, 22 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

In 2011, the Marlin Mine posted profits of $607 million. Of that, one half of one percent went to the Guatemalan government. That single statistic captures the tension at the heart of this gold and silver operation in the San Marcos Department of western Guatemala, where the mine straddles the boundary of two municipalities -- San Miguel Ixtahuacan and Sipacapa -- at elevations between 1,800 and 2,300 meters. Discovered in 1998, developed through a chain of corporate acquisitions, and brought into production in 2005, the Marlin Mine became one of the most contested extractive projects in Latin America, pitting indigenous communities against international capital in a dispute over water, land, consent, and who gets to define what counts as harm.

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Marlin Mine: Discovery, Merger, and Dore Bars

Sun, 22 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The Marlin deposit was found through regional exploration in 1998 by Montana Exploradora, S.A. Francisco Gold Corporation purchased the claim in 2000; two years later, Francisco merged into Glamis Gold, which brought the mine into production in 2005. The following year, Glamis wa...

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Marlin Mine: Poisoned Wells or Naturally Occurring Metals

Sun, 22 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Maya communities near the mine reported poisoned water sources, livestock dying after drinking from wells, and what they described as the destruction of their ancestral land. Goldcorp maintained that it had not discharged water into local rivers, that 89 percent of process water ...

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Marlin Mine: Referendums, Rulings, and Rigoberta Menchu

Sun, 22 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Before Goldcorp even acquired the mine, residents of Sipacapa had filed a complaint with the World Bank Group's compliance office, alleging the project was developed without adequate consultation and in violation of indigenous rights. The ombudsman found that the company had inte...

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Marlin Mine: What the Mountain Holds

Sun, 22 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The Marlin Mine sits 300 kilometers from Guatemala City by a mix of paved and gravel roads, in a landscape where the western highlands begin their descent toward the Pacific. Approximately 87 percent of the ore body lies within San Miguel Ixtahuacan. The mine had identified reser...

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