MINING IN MEXICO — A favorable geology helps nation prosper

Mexico is an eminent mining country with a tradition dating back more than 500 years to the pre-Columbian period. Throughout these years, Spain, Great Britain, France and the U.S. have at different times participated in the country’s mining industry.

Mining has greatly contributed to the development of Mexico’s economy and society. Cities such as Pachuca, Guanajuato, Zacatecas and Parral, and towns such as Tayoltita and Guanacevi in Durango and Taxco in Guerrero, were settled and eventually prospered because of mining activity in these areas. Mining has provided a significant impetus and has been an important factor in road and railroad construction, electrification and the construction of mining infrastructure in the form of processing and smelting plants. Known throughout the world for its mining, Mexico has become an exporter of products such as silver, lead, zinc, manganese, bismuth, cadmium, celestite, antimony, sulfur and fluorite. It holds the first five places in world production of several of these products.

Mexico’s geological resources are based in its three major mountain ranges — the Southern Sierra Madre, the Eastern Sierra Madre and the Western Sierra Madre — and it is crossed by a central corridor known as the Neo-volcanic Axis.

The country has a wide variety of igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks; a large diversity of alkaline and basic intrusive formations; vast closed basins with significant tectonism and folding; and an intense volcanic activity combined with geothermal and hydrothermal foci.

The origin of Mexico’s orogenic makeup lies in the sequence of tectonic and magmatic events genetically related to the occurrence of a large variety of mineral deposits such as the disseminated and hydrothermal ones in the Western Sierra Madre; replacement and smokestacks in the Eastern Sierra Madre; deposits of tertiary and volcanic origin in the Neo-volcanic Axis; and Permian and Triassic volcanic and vein-shaped hydrothermal deposits in the Southern Sierra Madre.

These favorable conditions include the presence of copper deposits in Sonora, phosphorites in Baja California Sur and Coahuila, sulphur in Veracruz, iron in Michoacan and Colima, and a wide variety of vein-shaped formations containing precious minerals such as gold and silver along with industrial metals such as lead and zinc scattered throughout the nation’s entire territory.

In terms of non-metallic minerals, Mexico is rich in a number of substances. It produces minerals such as celestite, fluorite, barite, kaolin, quartz, gypsum and salt, one or more of which are found in every state in Mexico. Although large volumes of ore have been mined for many years, the country’s mines are still far from exhausted. Possibilities still exist of finding metallic and non-metallic minerals in unexplored virgin areas. Geography has blessed Mexico with a privileged location as neighbor to one of the world’s most developed nations and largest consumer base. In addition, its long Pacific coast facilitates exportation of its mineral products to other countries.

The Mexican mining sector is a major contributor to foreign trade. The industry has a solid export position and is accustomed to open competition on world markets. During the past three years, substantial new investments have been poured into exploration of new projects, expansion and modernization of existing facilities and equipment, environmental protection measures, training for sector personnel, and developing programs to make operations more efficient.

These investments have already borne their first fruits. Deposits with a mining potential have been reactivated in sites such as Santa Gertrudis, Maria, Mulatos and San Antonio de la Huerta in the state of Sreactivated in sites such as Santa Gertrudis, Maria, Mulatos and San Antonio n Antonio anta Gertrudis, Maria, Mulatos and San Antonio de la Huerta in the state of S more effil and of its existing infrastructure throughout the country. The wide variety of ore processing plants indicates that Mexican mining is a dynamic industry firmly on the path to development.

The federal Ministry of Energy, Mines and State-Owned Industry is providing unprecedented support for mining, and measures have been adopted to assist the sector and to solve problems that have previously plagued it. Such measures include the elimination of production taxes, modernization and simplification of the legal framework and the availability of more than three million hectares of territory outside of the National Mining Reserve — zones formerly assigned to the federal government.

Also, through the Mineral Resources Council, the federal government has stimulated the mining industry by developing the basic geological and mining infrastructure.

In this regard, geological and mining monographs covering the states of Sinaloa, Zacatecas, Queretaro, Hidalgo, Guanajuato, Jalisco, San Luis Potosi, Sonora and others, are being published in English and Spanish to provide information to the international community.

Furthermore, as part of an effort to open new prospects in Mexico, the Mineral Resources Board is preparing an inventory of specific mineral substances. Work has already begun on non-metallic minerals including marble, granite, celestite and gypsum.

Another important measure taken by this board has been the preparation of the “geological map” of Mexico. The recently completed map has a scale of 1:2,000,000. It will help to provide information in a geological context to pinpoint new exploration areas in Mexico and to locate new mineral deposits. — Fernel Arvizu Lara is General Director, Board of Mineral Resources, Pachuca, Hidalgo, Mexico.