Home > Mining > Insight

Predicted Recovery for Metals Prices

Andres Robles - Mining Metallurgists, Engineers, and Geologists (AIMMGM)
Mexico City President of the Mexican Association

STORY INLINE POST

Wed, 10/19/2016 - 13:31

share it

Although Mexico City is not necessarily a typical mining destination like states such as Sonora and Chihuahua, the state has the benefit of being home to the headquarters of most of the biggest corporate mining companies in Mexico. The branch has executive members, mainly consisting of CEOs and managers, according to the Mexico City charter’s President Andres Robles, so in this location some of the key players from this industry are present and AIMMGM aims to incorporate all of them. “As a country, Mexico has been a key location for the mining sector for over 500 years and will remain so,” he believes. “Certain cities in the country were built around exploration sites such as Pachuca, Taxco, Guanajuato, and Zacatecas. The problem is that our society is not aware that mining represents a considerable portion of the country’s income, development and employment. Few understand that in comparison to other industries, miners have some of the highest industrial and safety standards due to the specialized work it entails and this industry does not have the same benefits as other sectors in some of the Mexican states.” He shares that in some cases, miners have to independently develop a great deal of infrastructure to access to communities, which differs greatly from other industries like the automotive sector, which has fiscal incentives for its development.

Mining clusters are being created by the government and the private sector with the purpose of grouping companies related to the mining sector into representations in front of authorities and facilitate discussions. “Most of the companies within the cluster are members of AIMMGM,” Robles claims. “The concept is starting to grow but the most successful are found in Zacatecas and Chihuahua. Nevertheless, there are other states that encourage this type of body such as Sonora. The mining community is extremely supportive and tightly knit but in the Mexico City Chapter there is no need for clusters as there are no nearby mining sites.” Instead, the differentiator for the Mexico City chapter is that it is located in a key city close to all the federal authorities and Robles plans to use this platform to support the clusters’ development.

The association is formed by professionals and academics from the mining industry in Mexico, and includes private companies, universities, suppliers, consultants, and others that are directly or indirectly affected by the mining industry. “The mining royalties and taxes for exploration and gold activity were devised when the prices of precious metals were high,” Robles comments. “The issue is enrooted  in the legislation’s long approval process because it was ultimately authorized after the precious metal market collapsed. It did not intend to damage the industry but its delayed implementation was harmful.” Beyond this, he believes there is a need to focus and study the options to ensure this income arrives to the communities. On this matter, AIMMGM would like to see greater communication between the federal and local authorities.

The mining companies are not the only victims of the drop in the market, according to Robles. “When the metal prices were at a peak, the industry was demanding a large amount of professionals with mining knowledge related to geology, engineering, and Geoscience,” he comments. “The latter offered attractive salaries, and many young people opted for these kind of degrees. Considering that university lasts five years and the prices dropped two years ago, thousands of specialized college graduates now cannot find employment.” One of Robles’ goals as President of the Mexico City Chapter is to create a link between this group of young people eager to work at mine sites, and vendors. He believes that vendors can offer excellent job opportunities for people that have industry-related knowledge.

For the future, AIMMGM will focus on fostering a variety of activities that strengthen members’ positions within the mining industry. Despite the current crisis, Robles predicts that Mexico will remain an important mining destination. “Downturns are always an opportunity to improve operations and remove unnecessary elements,” he claims.

You May Like

Most popular

Newsletter