Researchers from the INAH Chihuahua Center have spoken out against granting Samalayuca an exploitation permit for an open-pit mine, as this will affect the existing petroglyphs.
Researchers from the INAH Chihuahua Center have asked the INAH General Management, within the framework of its competence, to refuse authorization to the mining company “Samalayuca Cobre SA DE CV”, a subsidiary of the Canadian company “VCC Exploration Corporation”. as surface mining will directly or indirectly affect any area of archaeological sites and groups of rock formations containing archaeological petroglyphs within the Sierra de Samalayuca located south of Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua.
In 2019, the “company” submitted the request for the “La Gloria Mining Project” through the INAH-05_001 procedure (approval of works in areas of archaeological monuments or where their existence is presumed) through the center’s one-stop shop INAH Chihuahua in order to solve the official permits and to have the definitive authorization to exploit copper with a concession equivalent to half of the mentioned Sierra.
The management of the INAH Center has commissioned a team of archaeologists to examine the databases containing the archaeological sites previously registered with the Directorate of the Public Registry of Monuments and Archaeological and Historical Zones of the INAH (DRPMZAH) in the cabinet , to subsequently carry out the inspection of the archaeological site in the project area, where numerous archaeological evidence has been found inside and outside the affected polygon, leading to the presentation of a notice that provides for the assignment direct and indirect sites and groups with rock art; if the project is carried out.
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The company insisted twice more in 2020 and 2022 with new “adjustments” to its initial project, which it resubmitted through the INAH-05-001 procedure, repeatedly receiving a negative response from the authorized area and specialist from the INAH Chihuahua centre.
In December 2022, the Directorate of Archaeological Rescue (DSA), located in Mexico City, underestimated the archaeological opinion of the INAH Center and expressed a permissive position with regard to the mining project, which predicts a resolution favorable to the undertaken by INAH central offices, which would lead to the destruction of the country’s cultural and natural heritage.
The analysis of the area responsible for the Samalayuca project of the INAH Chihuahua Center considered that due to the characteristics of the archaeological contexts, if the mining project is carried out, there is a high risk of fragmentation and/or total loss of the integrity petroglyphs due to the transit of heavy machinery, the use of explosives and attempts to remove or transport archaeological material as well as regular copper ore mining processes.
In the archaeological discipline, it is clear that one of the archaeological foundations for the study of rock art is the archaeological context, as well as the landscape, which allows us to understand all the elements in a holistic way and their archaeological context.
The open pit will affect the visual, which will expose the hole on a large scale accompanied by machinery that will affect the consolidation and appreciation of these archaeological features.
The Sierra de Samalayuca contains a cultural complexity of enormous importance, it houses numerous archaeological expressions that constitute the heritage of the country, as well as associated evidence representative of all historical periods, from the Paleoindian, the Archaic, the middle period, also covering Spanish and contemporary contact.
Outside the area of mining activity, there is also a large concentration of various archaeological sites, including as yet unrecorded petroglyphs. The support where the petroglyphs are is composed of sandstone and shale, so if the project is developed, the waves caused by the explosives will affect the consolidation of the rocks. There is a risk of fragmentation and collapse. Dust storms will gradually cover the rocks and there will be deterioration issues from the movement of machinery, explosives and landslides.
It constitutes an exceptional vestige of the different stages of the passage of man through the Chihuahua desert towards the development of humanity on the American continent. Its Outstanding Universal Value is typical of declaration as World Heritage.
In the 1990s, archaeological work was carried out to identify the main units where rock art is present. Currently, as new studies are carried out, discoveries of identified sites, rock art (mainly petroglyphs) and surface archaeological materials are increasing.
There are 30 archaeological sites recorded in the DRPMZAH with a count of around 1000 rocks with petroglyphs, considering that each rock has a number up to 100 and the area has never been explored systematically until now, and it is expected that about 3000 rocks with petroglyphs.
The INAH Archaeological Rescue Directorate falls into irregularities by unjustifiably carrying out an archaeological inspection on its own, without notifying the authorities of the INAH Chihuahua Center or the members of the archaeological area, ignoring and invalidating the work already carried out by this team. Any decision by INAH concerning the granting of an operating license must take into account the technical opinion of the authorized technical field of the INAH Chihuahua center.
The Institute must comply with the word of President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador, when on October 1, 2020 in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, he announced the definitive cancellation of the La Gloria mining project.
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