Mexico's mining output fell 2% in 2023

Mexico's metallic and non-metallic mining activity dipped 2% in 2023, after suffering its worst monthly figure for the year in December with a 4.9% fall, according to the monthly industrial indicator from statistics bureau Inegi.

A stoppage in operations due to a four-month labor conflict at Newmont's Peñasquito gold and silver mine in June-October and the crisis at steelmaker Altos Hornos de México (Ahmsa) were the two main factors that weakened mining figures last year.

The revised Inegi figures show that only in January, February and April did non-oil mining activity increase year-on-year.  

Services related to mining grew 1.7% last year, and in December they increased 0.8%, after having plummeted 26.2% year-on-year in November, according to Inegi. However, the cumulative rebound in this figure was mainly driven by oil and gas extraction, which rose 3% for the year.

Metallic and non-metallic mining last year were also impacted by the policy of freezing the delivery of new concessions under President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's government, which is due to end on October 1, as well as the uncertainty caused by the mining reform in May, which, among other changes, gave geological service SGM the exclusive right to conduct exploration.

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

A new presidential proposal for constitutional reform submitted in January this year to ban open pit mining and prioritize household water consumption could also pose new obstacles for mining and would have “serious” economic effects if approved, sector sources have warned.

Open pit mining contributes 59% of the total value of national mining production, according to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Mexico (CanChamMx) and the Sonora chapter of the association of mining engineers, metallurgists and geologists (AIMMGM). The economy ministry registered 264 open pit mines in the country, mostly in Sonora, Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí and Chihuahua states.

The AIMMGM said that “open pit mining has historically been a significant source of income, employment and wellbeing in the communities where it is developed … generating growth and economic stability with records of more than 2mn direct and indirect jobs, plus a contribution of 150bn pesos [US$8.8bn] in annual federal taxes.” 

In 2022, Inegi reported that metal and non-metal mining fell 0.6% compared with 2021, confirming a stagnation in the sector that worsened in 2023. Meanwhile, services related to mining grew 13% that year.