Minera Frisco Restarts Two Mines, Plans New Silver Unit

Minera Frisco, the Grupo Carso subsidiary controlled by Carlos Slim, has restarted copper cathode production in Sonora and gold-silver output in Baja California, while its Ocampo Mining unit is set to launch a silver operation in Durango by end-2026, signaling a production-phase shift for one of Mexico's largest domestically controlled miners. The moves come as 160 mining projects remain stalled nationwide under the post-2023 regulatory framework, making Frisco's ability to advance multiple units concurrently a notable outlier in a sector facing extended permitting cycles and labor disputes.

Carlos Slim's Minera Frisco is expanding its operational footprint across Mexico, reactivating two dormant mining units while a third prepares to enter production before year-end. This move makes the Grupo Carso subsidiary one of the more active domestic miners at a time when regulatory friction has slowed much of the sector.

Through its subsidiary Minera Real de Ángeles, the company has resumed copper cathode extraction in Sonora and restarted a gold and silver operation in Baja California, where output is set to come online before the close of June. In Durango, the Ocampo Mining unit is on track to commission a silver-focused operation in the final months of 2026. Frisco framed the three moves as an expression of its long-term investment commitment to Mexico's mining industry.

Minera Frisco produces gold, silver and copper from multiple operations across Mexico. The company reported revenues of MX$10.46 billion and employs 3,142 people, according to the 2026 ranking of the country's top 10 mining companies by revenue. The combined revenues of those ten companies exceed MX$517 billion, with Frisco ranking among the domestic-controlled players in a sector dominated by foreign operators from the United States and Canada.

Minera Frisco was formally constituted in 1962, though some of its mining sites date back to the 17th century. In 1985, the company was acquired by Carlos Slim and integrated into Grupo Carso. It is dedicated to the exploration and exploitation of mineral resources for the production and sale of gold and silver doré bars, copper cathodes, and lead, zinc and copper concentrates.

The Sonora operation where copper cathode production has resumed is the María unit, which began operations in Cananea in 1980, first focusing on copper before beginning to produce copper cathode in 1999. The Baja California unit is the San Felipe mine, the largest producer of metallic minerals in Baja California, with a total production of 40,000t of gold and silver ore per day.

Operational Challenges as Context

The restart came against a backdrop of operational and labor pressure across Frisco's national portfolio. On June 1, 2026, a worker died at Minera Frisco's El Coronel unit in Ojocaliente, Zacatecas, after sustaining injuries while repairing a heavy-load truck tire at the facility's maintenance workshop. The incident prompted a full operational suspension and a cross-site safety review across the company's national operations.

The incident occurs as Mexico's Labor Ministry enforces updated underground mining safety standards under PROY-NOM-032-STPS-2026. CAMIMEX-affiliated companies are working toward a zero-accident target, with current rates at 1.33 versus a national average of 1.83.

The El Coronel fatality also surfaces alongside unresolved labor tensions in Zacatecas. In 2024, Minera Frisco faced a labor dispute at its Tayahua mine in Zacatecas, where over 1,000 union members and 350 non-union employees halted operations. The workers demanded higher profit-sharing payments, alleging the company was not fulfilling its obligations under the collective labor contract. Most of the workers that went on strike are part of the National Union of Mining, Metallurgical, Steel, and Similar Workers (SNTMSSRM). According to the regional newspaper NTR, the striking workers claimed that in 2023, they received profit-sharing payments totaling MX$115,000. Frisco described the strike as illegal and without legal merit, and said it remained open to dialogue.

Tayahua is an underground mine primarily producing copper and zinc concentrates, with additional output of gold, silver, and lead. It is located in the Mazapil municipality in Zacatecas, approximately 35km from Newmont's Peñasquito gold mine.

Sector-Wide Headwinds

The announcement of new and resumed production at Frisco comes as Mexico's mining sector faces a permit bottleneck with broad implications for investment. Mexico's mining sector faces a critical bottleneck, with 160 projects stalled due to missing environmental permits and the absence of formal regulations under the new Mining Law, threatening billions in investment and delaying the country's production of precious and critical minerals, according to Rubén del Pozo, President, Mexican Association of Mining, Metallurgical, and Geological Engineers (AIMMGM).

"We have 160 projects currently stalled. About 60% have been approved, but the rest are in various stages, some well advanced, others just beginning. There is no uniform situation across all projects," Del Pozo said during the International Mining Conference in Chihuahua 2026.

Since regulatory amendments introduced in May 2023, the sector has operated under tighter state supervision, extended permitting cycles and stalled concession grants. These conditions weigh most heavily on exploration-stage activity in states like Zacatecas, Sonora and Chihuahua, where foreign operators run some of their most productive assets. Federal authorities have nonetheless signaled a more pragmatic posture in 2026, with the government planning to approve four gold, silver, and zinc projects in Baja California, Chihuahua, and Zacatecas by mid-2026.

For Frisco, which has previously stated it was focusing on exploration and development work at select assets to support future production, the three concurrent moves, two restarts and one new unit,  represent a tangible deployment of that strategy into active output, at a moment when metal prices and regulatory signals are both shifting in the sector's favor.