TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Canada’s second-biggest gold miner, Goldcorp, has struck a deal with Guatemala to increase its royalty rate by four percentage points to 5% of gross revenue, the company said on Friday.

The government announced the previous day that royalties for precious metals production would climb to 4% from the previous 1% level, and the Toronto-quoted miner said it agreed to pay an additional 1% from its Marlin mine.

An Inter-American Commission on Human Rights report alleged the mine was polluting water in June 2011, requesting the government to suspend operations. Goldcorp said the claims were “entirely without merit” at the time.

Goldcorp CEO Chuck Jeannes called the royalty accord “a tremendous step forward for all stakeholders of the Marlin mine”.

“The enhanced revenues generated by the new royalty agreement will enable greater investment in community development initiatives in the region and foster a strong, consistent regulatory framework,” he commented in a press release.

Governments around the world have been seeking greater benefits from soaring commodity prices, with some countries, such as Ecuador, introducing new windfall taxes.

Of Goldcorp's 4% royalty, 50% goes directly to the municipality where the mine is.

Goldcorp said that 80% of its additional 1% royalty would go to implementing the economic development plans of the San Miguel Ixtahuacán and Sipacapa municipalities located near Marlin.

The Vancouver-based company will pay the remaining one-fifth to Guatemala’s Ministry of Energy and Mines and Ministry of Environment Natural Resources

The Marlin mine also pays income tax of 5% of gross revenues, with the company paying around $86-million to government in 2011, Goldcorp said.