240t of Newmont concentrate stolen in Mexico

Organized criminals assaulted six mining trucks used by Mexico’s Peñasquito precious metals operation, owned by US company Newmont, and stole at least 240t of concentrates that were being transported on the Zacatecas-Saltillo federal highway last Thursday, local authorities and the company reported.

The criminals overpowered two security guards and the six drivers to steal the gold-silver-zinc-lead concentrates, the value of which has not been specified to date, authorities from the army, the national guard, the attorney general's office and Zacatecas state’s public security department told a press conference, local daily La Jornada reported on Tuesday.

Newmont Peñasquito confirmed the report in a statement, noting that “thanks to the prompt response of local and federal security authorities, part of the stolen goods were recovered,” although it did not confirm the economic losses.

“Fortunately, during this concerning event, no personal injuries were reported and the people affected are safe. The safety and security of our employees, customers and community members is our top priority, and we will continue to fully cooperate with the authorities as they investigate the situation,” the mining company said.

Sophisticated operation

Eduardo Ordóñez, an independent political risk and security consultant, said the level of sophistication of the operation, which involved neutralizing the security system and hooking up the cabins to other trailers to avoid being located via satellite, "says a lot about the group's logistical and organizational capacity."

"It's not just about stealing that amount of material, but about planning the robbery, having the material means to carry it out and having the infrastructure to store, transform or distribute the stolen minerals," Ordóñez told BNamericas.

General Juan Manríquez Moreno, coordinator of the national guard in Zacatecas state, said that after receiving the report of the theft, there was a rapid intervention by agents of the army and the state preventive police, who within an hour recovered the trucks with the operators safe.

Manríquez Moreno added that the two guards who were traveling in the front and rear of the convoy as part of the private security surveillance system were released. 

"The loss of territorial and social control that the State has experienced over the last few years has allowed increasingly sophisticated criminal groups, not necessarily from the so-called organized crime groups or drug trafficking cartels, to focus their activities on extractive sectors," said Ordóñez.

“Crime will continue to be one of the main challenges for Mexican and foreign mining companies, their assets, operations and employees during [new president Claudia] Sheinbaum's six-year term. This is partly because of her poorly planned security strategy,” he said.

The national guard, the army and state police carried out an intense search on Friday and Saturday in the vicinity of the Peñasquito mine and the Camino Rojo deposit of Canada’s Orla Mining, both of which are located in the Zacatecas municipality of Mazapil, according to La Jornada.