Gold mining is an important activity for rural workers in Northwestern Sonora, Mexico. Mining is among the ten vocations with the greatest number of employees and highest incomes, but no there are no data indicating what workers think about mining activity in the region. This study was conducted during 2014 in Estacion Llano Sonora, Mexico, a town near the San Francisco Mine (a socially responsible company), to understand what employees think about mining and their impact on society and natural resources. Three hundred workers were randomly selected from the official list of employees to be surveyed. The study was set so the number of surveys would yield a 95% confidence (P<0.05). Fifty five percent of the workers are 31 to 50 years old and 68% agree that the mine is the main source of income in their households. The average income varies from 4,000 to 12,000 pesos a month. Monthly income from other duties was 2,000 to 3,200 pesos. All survey participants agree witht the utilization of natural resources; 26% water, 17% soils, 17% plants, 14% animals, 14% wood and charcoal and 12% seeds and fruits. Eighty percent of the workers affiremed that they have received some type of training from the mine. Seventy percent recognize that the company has invested money and efforts to train family members in range management courses to protect the land, to sow trees and to learn about water harvesting and conservation along with seed harvesting for range improvement practices and teaching grazing strategies for cattle. Resutls of the survey suggest that San Francisco Mine is concerned about training local people to take care of vegetation, soil, and apply good natural resources conservation practices.
Oral presentation and poster titles, abstracts, and authors from the Society for Range Management (SRM) Annual Meetings and Tradeshows, from 2013 forward.