Tahoe Resources shares tank on Wall Street

Shares of Canadian miner Tahoe Resources fell by 10 percent on Wall Street yesterday, as investors reckoned that its operations in Guatemala were likely to be severely affected.

Guatemala's constitutional court on Monday confirmed the suspension of activities at its San Rafael mine and ordered a consultation of the local indigenous community. Operations at San Rafael have already been frozen for more than a year. The mine is one of the world's leading silver producers.

Yesterday a spokesman for Tahoe in Guatemala accepted the court's finding. However, he noted that, in a similar case a hydroelectric scheme was allowed to continue its operations during the time that took for the consultation.