Banning open-pit mining in Mexico forecast to mean loss of thousands of jobs

Banning open-pit mining in Mexico, as proposed by a government proposal being debated in congress, would eliminate more than 400,000 direct jobs and more than 2.5mn indirect ones, according to the new president of mining engineers, metallurgists and geologists association AIMMGM, Rubén Del Pozo.

Speaking at the opening of the VIII Durango 2024 Mining Congress on Thursday, Del Pozo said that such a loss would “irreparably affect the economy of mining communities,” where the industry is often the only source of employment.

He argued that “the initiative to ban open-pit mining would be a huge mistake with a huge impact on production, employment and the development of the mining-metallurgical industry,” which puts mining activity at great risk, according to a statement from AIMMGM.

José Jorge Villaseñor, president of the AIMMGM Durango chapter, told the same event that in that state alone, 10 open-pit mining projects are at risk, which would result in the loss of at least 5,000 potential jobs if the measure is approved.

"As engineers, we are concerned about the threat of jobs disappearing, because the first to be harmed, if this initiative is approved, would be us, the workers," Villaseñor said, according to newspaper El Siglo de Durango.

According to local media, he said the capital would not be affected because it will simply move to another country if the activity is prohibited in Mexico, so those really impacted would be the mining workers and their families.

In mid-August, the lower house constitutional committee approved the government's proposal to ban open-pit mining. It was initially presented in February by outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador as part of a package of 20 constitutional reforms, including a controversial overhaul of the judiciary.

It is now expected to be debated and approved in September by both houses of congress, where the ruling coalition will have the supermajority needed to make constitutional changes.