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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Euan Wallace and Martina Mariano in Asunción Mita, Guatemala

‘They take the water, the springs dry up’: fear as Guatemalan goldmine plan is revived

A wiry tree on the rocky shore of a lake
Lake Güija. A volcanic lake and Ramsar wetland on Guatemala’s border with El Salvador, it connects the Ostúa and Lempa rivers. If the Era Dorada project is activated, environmentalists claim the wetland could be contaminated. Photograph: Euan Wallace

In the community of La Lima in Guatemala, Elda Dinora Ramírez, 58, looks towards a small well at the back of her home. Dusty wooden planks lie across the opening, concealing the faint gleam of water far below. “The well is drying up again,” she says.

Ramírez’s home lies less than a mile from Era Dorada – a goldmining project acquired by the Canadian multinational Aura Minerals in January 2025. After years of inactivity, the project was reactivated this year when the Guatemalan government granted Aura a construction licence.

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