In the mountains of southern Sinaloa, where pine forests thin into ravines and dirt roads disappear into fog, ten men went missing from a mining project earlier this year. Their families waited. Their coworkers warned. Their employer delayed.
Only five deaths have been publicly acknowledged.
According to a source with direct knowledge of the aftermath—who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation—all ten are dead.
The men were employees and contractors connected to the Pánuco silver project operated by Vizsla Silver, a Canadian-listed exploration company operating in the municipality of Concordia, near the town of Copala. The disappearances occurred in January, during a period of escalating violence in the region linked to internal conflict between factions of the Sinaloa cartel.
What happened to the miners was not sudden, sources say. It was the culmination of months, possibly years, of warnings.
A Project That Was Not Yet a Mine
Vizsla Silver’s Pánuco project is not, technically, a producing mine. According to former senior staff, the company does not yet have permits to extract minerals commercially. The project remains in the development phase, following a successful exploration period that drew investor attention in Canada and the United States.
From 2019 to 2021, the site was widely regarded by geologists as a success story. Exploration teams expanded rapidly. Drilling results were strong. The atmosphere, according to multiple former employees, was stable and secure.
That changed, several sources say, after a shift in management…