For Mexico, this is a high-ranking priority. Modifications to the mining law could be considered to facilitate the operation of the government and companies without affecting social and environmental issues. The discussion on the Mining Law was also present off-stage. Services related to mining, including exploration, have shown declines of over 20% since January. "We need clear rules, defined timelines for permits, and certainty to invest," stated the president of Camimex, Pedro Rivero González, before an audience that included Secretary of Economy Marcelo Ebrard. Rivero González recalled that today mining generates an economic turnover close to 260,000 million pesos annually, which implies about 45,000 million pesos in taxes. "There are not many industries in the country that can say that," he affirmed. Camimex requests to enable mining exploration to reactivate the sector. Rivero insisted that Mexico has unique advantages: it is a significant producer of 23 minerals, and nine of them are considered critical for the North American region. According to INEGI data, mining has accumulated annual declines since 2024, and this year the drops reach 10% monthly. Therefore, he said, Mexican mining is "at the center of the Mexico Plan." The issue of permits was raised by Marcelo Ebrard, who highlighted that the government and the Mining Chamber have worked closely throughout the year. The XXXVI International Mining Convention, which runs until November 22 in Acapulco, began with a series of messages showing the sector's complex moment, but also the strategic place the industry wants to occupy in the coming years. The Secretary of Economy celebrated that the first advances in regulations and permits have already been achieved, and announced that "tasks have begun towards 2026 to reactivate exploration on a larger scale and accelerate procedures." According to Ebrard, in a context of geopolitical tension, access to minerals and processing will be decisive for the competitiveness and security of supply chains. In dialogue with El Financiero, the Head of the Unit for Coordination of Extractive Activities in the Secretariat of Economy, Fernando Aboitiz, ruled out the presentation of a new Law but accepted that "modifications could be considered that facilitate the operation of the government and companies without affecting the social and environmental." As an example, he mentioned environmental remediations in the exploration phase, which he considers unnecessary because that stage does not affect the land. He also anticipated that the Mining Regulation, with a 23-month delay, could be published soon. The request to enable exploration comes in a complicated context. These are activities that depend on investment and confidence in permits, but have been slowed by regulatory uncertainty and the decline in oil and gas.
