SEMARNAT Blocks Mining in Protected Areas; Vulcan Materials Case

SEMARNAT bars mining permits in protected areas, even for pre-2023 concessions, as arbitrators largely side with Mexico in the Vulcan/Calica case. In addition, Cadence Minerals registers ICSID arbitration vs. Mexico over Sonora Lithium concession cancellation.

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SEMARNAT Ends Mining Permits Within Protected Natural Areas

SEMARNAT has published an agreement in the DOF on July 20 that bars its own officials from issuing any environmental permit for mining exploration or extraction inside federally protected natural areas (ANPs), a prohibition that applies even to concessions granted before the May 2023 mining-law reform. 

Processing Deficit Limits LATAM Mineral Upside: Moody's Ratings

The potential for downstream expansion and refining capacity represents a strategic pivot for Latin America's extraction sector, offering a direct path to higher operating margins and credit differentiation, says Moody’s Ratings. However, despite the positive factors, some countries in the region have to develop more localized critical minerals value chains; the region still has to address legal and infrastructure gaps. 

Cadence Minerals Formalizes ICSID Claim Against Mexico

Cadence Minerals has taken its long-simmering dispute with the Mexican state into a formal legal track. The London-listed miner confirmed that the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes has registered its arbitration claim, now designated ICSID Case No. ARB/26/36, over the 2023 cancellation of the Sonora Lithium Project concessions. 

Mexico Wins Case Against Vulcan Materials

The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) ruled largely in favor of the Mexican state in the international arbitration filed by Vulcan Legacy LLC, a subsidiary of Vulcan Materials Company, after the firm sought a multimillion-dollar compensation over the shutdown of its limestone extraction operations on the coast of Quintana Roo. The tribunal dismissed nearly all of the US company's claims, in a ruling that Mexico's Ministry of Economy described as a win for the government's position.

First Majestic Agrees to Sell San Martin Silver Mine in Jalisco

First Majestic Silver has signed a definitive agreement to divest its dormant San Martin silver-gold mine in Jalisco to Mexican private company Flextronics Supply and Service, S. de R.L. de C.V., in a deal worth a total of US$90 million in cash. The agreement, dated July 6, 2026, marks the miner's second major non-core asset sale in Mexico this year, following the June closing of its Del Toro divestiture in Zacatecas.

Fresnillo Pays Full IPO Price for Sinda Stake

Fresnillo plc closed a US$95.3 million purchase of 7,939,544 shares in Sinda on July 27, paying exactly the company's US$12 IPO price with no discount and accepting a 180-day lock-up that bars any resale until late January 2027. The transaction, formalized through a Common Stock Purchase Agreement signed June 22, makes Fresnillo a strategic shareholder in a junior explorer that just listed on the New York Stock Exchange with projects in Guanajuato.

Equinox-Orla Merger Clears Final Vote, Creating New Gold Giant

Shareholders of Equinox Gold and Orla Mining have approved their US$18.5 billion combination, creating Canada's second-largest gold producer and adding another marquee deal to a mining sector that has been consolidating fast on Mexican soil this year.