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Undersecretary Settles into New Role

Mario Alfonso Cantú - Ministry of Economy
Undersecratary of Mining

STORY INLINE POST

Sat, 12/01/2018 - 12:41

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Q: To what extent does the creation of the Undersecretariat of Mining reflect the growing importance of mining?

A: The Undersecretariat was created by the Ministry of Economy as an acknowledgment of the importance of mining as a strategic activity and a response to the industry’s expansion and the need for regulation, promotion and development. Investment in Mexican mining was US$19.8 billion in 2011 and 2012, and in the next four years, from 2013 to 2016, amid falling metal prices, it reached US$19.9 billion. Employment in the mining-metallurgical sector as of December 2012 was 328,555 workers, while in December 2016 it registered a total of 354,702 workers. Finally, exports reached a similar level, with a US$17.8 billion annual average in 2009-2012 and US$16.4 billion in 2013- 2016. This demonstrates that, despite falling metal prices from 2013 to 2016, investment levels, GDP and employment in the mining industry registered better performance than in previous years.

Another reason for the creation of the Undersecretariat was the need to reach a better level of communication and conversation both at a national and international level. Internally, the General Coordination of Mining lacked communication with areas of the federal government that are directly related to mining, such as the Ministries of Environment, Labor, Energy and Finance. It was therefore proposed that the General Coordination should be elevated to a higher level to boost this relationship, since its counterparts have always worked at the level of Undersecretaries.

Q: How will the Undersecretariat operate differently from the General Coordination of Mining?

A: The growing investment in the mining sector is demanding that we increase our institutional capacity to provide better and easier ways for local and foreign investors in their projects. The Undersecretariat is carrying out five key priorities. Firstly, we are strengthening human resources to fulfill institutional functions and objectives. Secondly, we are modernizing our technological platform and digitalizing the concession process and cartography to accelerate the process for allocating a concession title. Thirdly, we have prioritized re-engagement of Mexican Geological Survey (SGM) resources in exploration activities to provide more projects with more information focused on rare earths and base industrial metals. Finally, we are strengthening the Inter-Institutional Mining Group, made up of federal government agencies involved in regulating the sector.

Q: What does Mexico need to do to compete with other jurisdictions to attract more greenfield investment?

A: Public policy of the Mexican government regarding the mining sector is included in the Mining Development Program 2013-2018, which defines the objectives, strategies and lines of action to boost mining activity within a framework of sustainable development. One of the purposes of the Mining Development Program is to promote higher levels of investment and competitiveness in the mining sector. The Undersecretariat of Mining carries out investment promotion policies through participation in the main national and international mining events.

Another one of the policies implemented by the current federal administration is to increase the quality of information for mining projects, thereby developing detailed geology, geophysics and geochemistry activities plus direct exploration through diamond drilling. This provides the means to continue exploration, according to the results derived from mining operations.

To attract more greenfield investment, SGM allocates most of its human resources and budget to developing Mexican mining potential through continuous mapping of the country on a 1:50,000 scale. This is an essential requirement to identify mining exploration targets. The accumulated goal set for 2017 is 837,717km2 with a coverage of around 60 percent of the national territory with mining potential.

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