The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor HudBay Minerals denies selling an overseas nickel project to try and dodge lawsuits stemming from the alleged killing of one man and the gang rape of 11 women. Instead, HudBay spokesperson John Vincic told Reuters, the Fenix project in Guatemala no longer fit into the company's plans. "We sold Fenix because it did not fit our strategy of focusing on VMS (volcanogenic massive sulfide) and porphyry," Vincic, vice president of investor relations and corporate communications, told the news agency last month. Vincic previously confirmed to The Reminder that the sale would not release HudBay from legal action, though the company denies wrongdoing. Eleven women have brought forth a $55-million lawsuit against HudBay and a subsidiary, claiming they were gang raped by mining security personnel, police and military members in January 2007. Before Guatemala That was before HudBay was involved in Guatemala. It wasn't until August 2008 that HudBay merged with junior miner Skye Resources, now known as HMI Nickel, so it could own the Fenix project in the eastern part of the country. Murray Klippenstein, a Toronto-based lawyer, continues to push for another lawsuit against HudBay relative to the alleged killing of a mining opponent in Guatemala in September 2009. "HudBay and HMI Nickel cannot avoid liability for their past actions by selling the project," Klippenstein said in a statement quoted by Reuters. "We believe this sale was prompted in part by the severe human rights issues at HudBay's Fenix project that dogged the company at every turn." HudBay announced last month it is selling Fenix to a private Russian company for $170 million Ð a steep discount from the $460 million it spent to buy the property in 2008.
