Pan American announced in July that it had curtailed development at the promising Navidad project in Argentina as it waits to see if changes are made in mininglaws.
Pacific Rim also disputes the land ownership charge, claiming to own or lease all of the lands it is required to own in order to comply with Salvadoran mininglaws.
Asked whether new laws were needed to enforce mining codes, Golborne said the laws were not to blame for the men's predicament: "The problem was that the owners did not do what they were told to, " he said.