In 2018the territory granted for mining activities in Mexico was 10.64%figure that for the closing of this 2022 it is located in 8.59%according to data from the Ministry of Economy.
Mining requires a prior process of at least five years, which is divided into two stages. The first is prospecting, during which possible deposits are located. Subsequently, exploration is carried out, through which it is analyzed and studied if it is really feasible to carry out exploitation work based on what is found in the subsoil.
Jaime Gutiérrez, president of the Mining Chamber of Mexico (Camimex) stresses that “The deposits are not eternal”having limited mineral deposits, so exploration work is essential to continue with the extractive industries.
In a scenario where no mining concession has been granted for four years, exploration activities are even more elementary. The organization estimates that this year 502.1 million dollars were invested, which implied an annual increase of 28.2%
In the midst of the shift from internal combustion vehicles to electric ones, One of the challenges facing the mining sector is the search for new deposits of various critical minerals, such as nickel, copper, manganese and lithium.. A study by the consulting firm S&P Global indicates that a gasoline-powered vehicle requires about 24 kilograms of copper for its manufacture, a figure that for an electric vehicle increases to 139 kilograms, that is, 5.7 times more.
Given this scenario, Armando Alatorre, president of the College of Mining Engineers, Metallurgists and Geologists of Mexico (CIMMGM), highlights that exploration for the sector is equivalent to planting for farmers, since this is where production is obtained.
“We need to spend on exploration, so that, for example, in 10 years, we can have a mine from which to reap what we sow. We have been declining in exploration for many years, so we have been sowing little, to put it in some way.. We need to reverse this trend so that in 10 or 20 years we will have the mining production that is required for all these new technologies”, he adds in an interview with Expansion.