Mexican mining off to a slow 2024

Mexican metallic and non-metallic mining activity fell 0.4% year-over-year in January, according to the latest industrial index of statistics agency Inegi.

Last year, mining fell 2% versus 2022, mainly due to labor conflicts and the resulting stoppage of operations at Newmont's Peñasquito gold and silver mine for more than four months and the prolonged crisis at steelmaker Ahmsa.

The mining services segment grew 1.6% in January after increasing 1.7% during last year, according to official data.

Metallic and non-metallic mining was also impacted by the President Andrés Manuel López Obrador administration's policy of freezing the granting of new concessions, as well as by the uncertainty generated after May's mining reform, which, among other changes, gave geological service SGM exclusive exploration rights.

The lack of regulations for four modified laws that apply to the sector keeps various mining processes halted, especially those related to exploration, which in turn affects demand for related services, industry players told BNamericas.

López Obrador's term will end on October 1.

A new presidential initiative for constitutional reform presented in January to prohibit open-pit mining and prioritize domestic over industrial water consumption would pose new obstacles for mining in 2024 and have “serious” economic effects if approved, sector representatives warned.

Open-pit mining contributes 59% of the value of national mining output, according to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Mexico (CanCham) and the mining engineers, metallurgists and geologists association AIMMGM, Sonora district.

The economy ministry registered 264 open pit mines, mostly in the states of Sonora, Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí and Chihuahua.

Mining chamber Camimex recently told BNamericas that prohibiting the granting of open-pit mining concessions would imply a huge blow to a sector considered strategic for the economy and put at risk more than US$3.9bn in investments and more than US$14bn in foreign currency inflow.