Two men believed to be foreign mining executives were reportedly found dead in the Santa Rosa river which divides the states of Jalisco and Nayarit on Saturday.
According to several local media outlets, their bodies were found floating down the river by local farmers, on the border between the municipalities of Ixtlan del Rio, Nayarit and Hostotipaquillo, Jalisco.
A briefcase discovered nearby contained documents pertaining to Michael Davies and Derald Johnston, the respective CEO and treasurer of U.S. mining firm Southridge Minerals Inc.
Spanish-language newspapers El Informador and El Occidental reported that authorities in Nayarit were investigating the case and awaiting the results of an autopsy at a morgue in Tepic.
However, the Nayarit Attorney General’s Office told the Reporter on Monday that it is not in possession of the bodies and could not confirm any details of the case. The U.S. Consulate in Guadalajara also said it could not confirm the story at this time.
Based in Dallas, Texas, Southridge Minerals Inc. states on its website that it is focused on gold and silver mining and “is currently focused on projects in Jalisco and Nayarit States of Mexico.”
The firm says that in 2010 it paid 7.5 million dollars for exclusive concessions to mine the Cinco Minas and Gran Cabrera mines respectively located 100 and 135 kilometers northwest of Guadalajara, but this is disputed by Canadian mining firm Bandera Gold Ltd., which claims ownership of both mines and displays the concession certificates on its website.
On February 5, Bandera Gold CEO Stephen Roehrig released a statement claiming “press releases issued by Southridge Enterprises, Inc. (‘SRGE’ or ‘Southridge’) contain false and misleading statements about current mining activity and SRGE’s alleged ownership of the Cinco Minas project.”
This followed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s announcement on December 28 that it had “temporarily suspended trading in the securities of Southridge because of questions regarding the accuracy of statements made by Southridge in press releases to investors concerning, among other things, the company’s business operations and arrangements.”
Southridge Minerals did not answer when contacted by the Reporter on Monday.