Mexican Government and Mining Industry Discuss Critical Mineral Development Pathways

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On August 27, at the Ninth National Mining Convention held in Durango, Mexico, the Mexican Geological Survey, Industrias Peñoles, the Mexican Mining Chamber, and representatives from the heavy-duty vehicle manufacturing industry held a panel discussion on the development of critical and priority minerals, covering topics such as resource identification, processing technologies, mineral recovery, and downstream manufacturing demand. Flor de María Harp y Utribaría, Director General of the Mexican Geological Survey, stated that the designation of critical minerals requires a dynamic assessment combining supply disruption risks, domestic industry demand, and processing capabilities.

Rafael Rebollar, General Manager of Industrias Peñoles, stated that minerals such as gallium, germanium, selenium, and cobalt are typically associated with Mexico's existing zinc, lead, and copper deposits, but some of these minerals are currently not recovered due to the lack of corresponding processing and separation technologies. He proposed increasing investment in mineral processing technologies and studying the recovery of strategic minerals from historical tailings facilities. Peñoles currently operates lead and zinc ore mining and local smelting systems in the state of Coahuila.

Pedro Rivero González, President of the Mexican Mining Chamber and General Manager of Compañía Minera Autlán, stated that Mexico currently accounts for approximately 1% of global manganese production, ranking ninth worldwide. He noted that corporate investment could continue to focus on existing resources such as silver, copper, zinc, lead, and fluorspar, while strengthening collaboration between the Mexican Geological Survey and research institutions on exploration and processing technologies for new mineral types. He also proposed that the public sector could undertake more early-stage work in the development of new resources such as lithium.

The Mexican Geological Survey's 2026–2030 institutional plan has formally established as objectives the expansion of national mineral resource exploration and the enhancement of understanding of potential deposits required for the energy transition and green technologies, while continuing efforts such as 1:50,000-scale geological and geochemical mapping. The plan was officially published on April 20 of this year.

In February of this year, Mexico and the United States also launched a critical minerals action plan. The scope of work announced by both sides includes studying a minimum price mechanism for critical mineral import border adjustments, coordinating mining and processing regulatory standards, conducting geological mapping cooperation, and identifying specific mining, processing, and manufacturing projects in Mexico, the United States, and third countries, with eligible projects prioritized for inclusion in financing and public policy support.

Rogelio Arzate, a representative of the heavy-duty vehicle manufacturing industry, listed lithium, iron, phosphate, copper, aluminum, nickel, manganese, and cobalt as raw materials for the electric vehicle supply chain at the convention, which are used respectively in LFP and NMC power battery systems as well as in vehicle manufacturing. He stated that Mexico already possesses the production capacity for fully electric heavy-duty vehicles.