Almaden Minerals Ltd. reported that it has recently signed a cooperation agreement with the Ejido Santa María Zotoltepec, the Ejido located closest to the Ixtaca project, in Puebla State, Mexico. This agreement is similar to the one signed last year with the “United Ejidatarios for the Sustainable Development of Santa María Zotoltepec, A.C., but it is signed with the entire Ejido after a majority vote in favour under strict agrarian rules and signed through an Act of Assembly. The agreement is initially focused on contributions to support an agro-technological package aimed at sustainable plant nutrition and soil enrichment.

Longer term, the agreement commits the parties to work collaboratively under the Project's Social Management Plan in pursuit of multiple UN Sustainable Development Goals. The agreement broadens the architecture needed to formulate and deliver Ixtaca's Social Management Plan which will evolve from the Human Rights Impact Assessment and be mindful of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals1 as reflected in the priorities of the UN Agenda 2030. Santa María Zotoltepec is located approximately 1.5 kilometres from the footprint of the Ixtaca project.