Rubén de Jesús del Pozo Mendoza, president of the Association of Mining Engineers, Metallurgists and Geologists of Mexico (AIMMGM), asked the government of Claudia Sheinbaum to allow private initiative to enter mining exploration in the country, since the Mexican Geological Service does not have the budget to face the potential.
“The Mexican Geological Survey has very prepared and capable technicians and professionals, but an insufficient budget for the mineral potential of Mexico,” he said within the framework of the XXXVI International Mining Convention 2025.
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Given the budgetary insufficiency of the Mexican Geological Service, “we call to recover a mixed exploration model, where the State maintains the leadership, but private initiative and academia contribute resources, technology and knowledge,” he noted.
On August 21, the Ministry of Economy announced that the Mexican Geological Service will carry out new explorations in Sonora, Sinaloa, Durango and the State of Mexico.
“We celebrate that decision, but we recognize the limits of the Mexican Geological Survey,” he said.
In 2024, mining exploration decreased 11.5 percent, so without exploration there are no new discoveries or industrial future, declared the organization’s representative.
“Today, geologists are running out of work material, but tomorrow it could be the miners and then also the metallurgists, with the knock-on effect for the rest of us who collaborate in the industry,” he noted.
The president of the AIMMGM pointed out that mining is a long-term and high-risk sector: “It takes years and millions of dollars before a project starts producing.”
He added that mining is subject to tax rates that can reach up to 50 percent of its profits, so a more flexible tax scheme is necessary and it is also necessary to return the Mining Fund to the municipalities with mining activity.
He said that mining companies have not stopped making this contribution since 2014, when the Mining Fund was established, but since 2020 it has been distributed among the Secretariats of Education, Economy and the federal government, without its precise destination being known.
He added that the granting of concessions is also a pending issue, as well as the delay in permits for the entry into force of new projects: “These and others are considerations that investors take into account when trusting Mexico or, otherwise, taking their investments to other countries with less risks and more incentives.”
The “mining party” is leaving an economic impact on the Port of Acapulco, which is being rebuilt after Hurricane Otis, the miner recalled.
“We are honored to have the pleasant attendance of each and every one of you this afternoon in this beautiful state of Guerrero, where mining and tourism coexist as pillars of identity and progress,” he declared.
“Today, this Convention has a special meaning because we return after Otis with hope, with solidarity and with the conviction that the miners, like the people of Guerrero, always know how to rebuild, be reborn and move forward,” he concluded.
