Mexico’s Mining Roadmap for 2027

Fernando Aboitiz, Head of Extractive Activities Coordination at Mexico's Ministry of Economy, said the government aims to return national mineral output to its historic peak of 42Mt, up from approximately 32Mt currently, as SEMARNAT, CONAGUA and Economy clear permitting backlogs that reached 85%, 50% and over 90% completion, respectively. Speaking ahead of Mexico's term coordinating the Latin American Council of Mining Ministers, Aboitiz called for a regional front to help producers move up the value chain into refining and cathode processing. He also outlined proposed reforms to exploration certainty and mine-life extensions still under discussion with industry.  

Mexico is working to recover the peak production levels it once reached across its mining sector, driven by faster permitting and a renewed government consensus on the strategic value of critical minerals, said Fernando Aboitiz, Head of the Extractive Activities Coordination Unit at the Ministry of Economy, at Mexico Mining Forum 2026.

"The goal of the government is to return to the maximum levels of production that Mexico had before, to 42Mt of total mineral products," Aboitiz said. He noted that national output across all minerals has fallen to approximately 32Mt from that historic peak, and that new operations must come online to close the gap. Aboitiz added that the debate within government over whether to develop gold and silver deposits has largely been resolved, with officials now recognizing these minerals as inputs that Mexican manufacturing supply chains require, not solely a source of royalty revenue.

Aboitiz linked the recovery effort to a broader regional strategy, as Mexico prepares to coordinate the Latin American Council of Mining Ministers following a meeting held in Chile the previous week. "Latin America must present a united front vis-a-vis developed countries so we can move up the value chain, moving beyond extraction to refinement and cathode processing," he said. Aboitiz described this as a counterweight to a unilateral, price-based approach favored by the US, positioning Latin American producers to negotiate collectively for investment in refining and processing capacity rather than competing individually for bilateral deals.

Permitting backlogs that had stalled new mining operations are largely clearing, according to Aboitiz. He said the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) has authorized approximately 85% of pending permits for permanent operations, equivalent to more than 150 authorizations, while the National Water Commission (CONAGUA) has reached roughly 50% and the Ministry of Economy has cleared 90-95% of its concession-related processes. He described new mining operations as beginning to receive authorization for the first time in years, alongside a working group tasked with presenting exploration reforms to President Claudia Sheinbaum within the coming weeks.

Two regulatory priorities remain unresolved, Aboitiz said: exploration certainty and extended mine life. On exploration, he described the current framework, under which companies risk exploration capital only to lose a subsequent public tender, as untenable, and floated a model in which explorers who make a reasonable purchase offer could bypass the tender process, with those who do not find viable deposits reimbursed for prior investment. On mine life, he proposed allowing operators to extend concessions along a proven vein rather than opening new sites, arguing that extending an existing mine from 6 or 7 years to 15 or 20 years carries lower environmental and economic costs than closing one operation and permitting another. Aboitiz said both proposals are being developed jointly with industry chambers before any formal regulatory change is pursued, and that a wholesale reform of the Mining Law is not currently under consideration given the sector's recent volatility.

On trade, Aboitiz said Mexico's mining chapter within the broader USMCA renegotiation has not stalled but has become a secondary element tied to the pace of the overall talks, with Mexico working alongside industry chambers to secure favorable terms rather than accept externally set conditions.

Aboitiz's remarks on faster permitting align with recent MBN reporting on the sector's regulatory trajectory. SEMARNAT authorizations have accelerated in recent weeks even as the agency simultaneously narrowed the scope of approvable projects, having barred new environmental permits for mining activity within federally protected natural areas following a Supreme Court ruling upholding the 2023 Mining Law reform. Investment tied to permit resolution remains substantial: Torex Mining's Media Luna copper project, structured around a projected output increase to 70-75 million pounds annually between 2027 and 2030, illustrates the scale of capital awaiting the same regulatory clearances Aboitiz described as nearing completion.