Mexican Delegation to Confront Canadian Mining Corporation on Home Turf

by Frente Amplio Opositor (FAO)

Press point: NEW GOLD inc. shareholders’ meeting
PRESS POINT AT SHAREHOLDER’S MEETING

Date: Thursday, May 6th 2010
Location: First Canadian Place, 77 Adelaide Street West, Toronto, ON.
Time: 3:30 p.m.
Event: Press point, street theatre, picket
Organized by: Frente Amplio Opositor (FAO) Mexico/Montreal

To arrange interviews or for more information contact: cerrodesanpedro@gmail.com or 514-664-1074 x103

Toronto, May 4, 2010 – Representatives from San Luis Potosí, Mexico, will be in Toronto to oppose an open-pit mine owned by New Gold Inc. at the corporation’s annual shareholder meeting on May 6th. The mine, located in the historic Mexican village of Cerro de San Pedro, has generated resistance and controversy internationally.

In November of 2009, a Mexican superior court, the Federal Tribunal of Administrative and Fiscal Justice, nullified the environmental permit for the mine and ordered operations to cease. After being shut down for more than three months, the project started again in March, despite the lack of an environmental permit. Dr. Juan Carlos Ruiz Guadalajara, a professor of history at the Colegio de San Luis, stated, “If the government of Mexico were enforcing the law without influence or corruption, the Cerro de San Pedro mine would not be operating today. According to the Federal Tribunal, the mine is closed. There is no legal excuse for why it continues to operate, daily dynamiting the patrimony, ecology, and history represented in this mountain.” The operation of the mine continues to be challenged in a number of Mexican courts.

The demonstration will be accompanied by a street theatre troupe and picket outside the New Gold meeting. Said Dr. Guadalajara: “We want to make sure that opposition to the Cerro de San Pedro mine is at the top of New Gold’s agenda. Our delegation is giving shareholders a glimpse of the scope of resistance in Mexico, and sending a clear message of the instability on the ground for present and potential investors.”