Mexico Requires a Nationalistic Mining Industry: CONACEMM

The Confederation of Mining Concession Holders and Entrepreneurs of Mexico (CONACEMM) urged to create a more “nationalistic” mining industry to ensure a fair market environment for Mexican SMEs, as the organization stated that the sector is the only one that could lift Mexico out of poverty 

During a forum held at Jalisco’s local Congress, Juan Rodríguez, Coordinator, CONACEMM, urged for a reform to the Mining Law to move toward a nationalist approach in the sector. He said that he had pushed for a citizen initiative to review the Mining Law, with the main objective being to force mining companies to process minerals and retaining most of them in the country. For this purpose, Rodríguez set the goal of collecting 1.5 million signatures to take his initiative to Congress.

“We have started our historical duty to collect the required signatures to present a citizens’ initiative, we are carrying out these forums in Jalisco and Coahuila and will go nationwide to demonstrate that we can collect the 1.5 million signatures and take them to Congress. There, all parliamentary factions will learn what it is about,” said Rodríguez. “Mining is the only sector that could lift Mexico out of poverty,” he added.

Rodríguez said that the main objective of his proposal is to get support for mining-focused SMEs, which according to him have been neglected by the government. The SMEs were forced to get where they are using their own resources, unlike major mining companies that receive direct help from the government through stimulus packages. “With all due respect to foreigners, Mexico has to restore the law’s principle of 1964, where it stated that 49 percent is for foreigners and 51 percent for Mexicans,” Rodríguez added. 

Rodríguez exemplified the importance of processing minerals in the country by looking at steel. He highlighted that steel is a highly demanded commodity in the Asian market, as it contains strategic minerals like rhodium, platinum and palladium, among other minerals that are more expensive than steel. “We are not against foreigners nor against big entrepreneurs, but we want support for SMEs. All SMEs in the productive sectors have been supported, except for ours,” Rodriguez added. 

In June 2022, MBN reported an initiative of the Mexican Geological Survey (SGM) and the Ministry of Economy (SE) to allow SMEs to participate in mining exploitation activities. The project consisted of the evaluation of the economic and technical feasibility of mining projects in 58 potential mining areas. According to SE, the project will be developed between 2022 and 2023. It  aims to help SMEs to capitalize on the geological information that SGM provides.