MEXICO CITY, Sept. 17 Reuters - Mining companies in Mexico should expect major environmental reviews given their projects' major impacts, a senior official told Reuters, insisting that the backlog of evaluations is easing despite industry claims that opposite is true
A top -10 global producer of over a dozen minerals, Mexico's multi-billion - dollar mining sector is responsible for around 8% of the second largest economy in Latin America, but miners are concerned they are being exposed to increased hostility from Mexico's leftist government.
Tonatiuh Herrera, deputy environment minister, who oversees regulatory compliance, said in an interview that pandemic-related closures last year did contribute to a backlog of environmental evaluations for mines but the ministry never stopped processing permits.
Why we need strict environmental reviews, he said in his office in Mexico City.
Mining company executives have argued that President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has undercut mining with record administrative delays caused largely by steep budget cuts at the ministry and warned companies may shift new investments https: www.reuters.com. com article us-mexico mining-idUSKBN2 AQ 2 QZ to more inviting countries.
Herrera said open pit mines will be evaluated in case by case basis due to their enormous impact on local communities and especially water resources. They have not been banned but he added, appearing to walk back comments made earlier this year by his boss, Environment Minister Maria Luisa Albores.
In May, Albores said open pit mining had been prohibited on orders by Lopez Obrador, a resource nationalist who has criticized some foreign miners of trying to avoid paying taxes.
Open pit mines, in which the ore from massive surface deposits are scooped up by gigantic trucks account for about one-third of Mexico's most productive mines.
One could say, 'How do you imagine an environmental authorization for a project like that? Albores asked Herrera, stressing that senior officials like Herrera are understandably worried. Grupo Mexico, one of the country's biggest miners, is currently awaiting final authorizations for its nearly $3 billion open pit El Arco project in Baja California, expected to start producing 190,000 tonnes of copper by 2028.
Herrera argues mining companies may have grown accustomed to minimal oversight by past governments.
They practically gave everything automatic authorizations, he said.
Still, Herrera said the current administration has recently endorsed many environmental impact statements for mines - commonly known as MIAs - but declined to provide details.
Meanwhile, 18 separate mining projects representing investment of nearly $2.8 billion are stalled due to unresolved ministry permitting, including eight MIAs and 10 important land-use authorizations, data from the mining chamber Camimex show.
Herrera is an economist like his older brother, former Finance Minister and incoming central bank chief Arturo Herrera.
Mexico's mining sector paid about $1.5 billion in taxes last year and exported $18.4 billion in metals and minerals, according to government data. The sector employs nearly 350,000 staff.
The younger Lopez Obrador claimed about 9% of Mexico covered by mining concessions, a figure that matches official government data but contradicts Herrera's repeated claims that upwards of 60% of Mexican territory is covered by the concessions.
Herera says his government will not authorize any new mining concessions, which Lopez Obrador echoed, calling past concessions excessive.
However, he insisted that dozens of delayed MIAs are under evaluation as ministry is working to develop what he describes as a new one-stop digital permitting process.
The paralysis people talk about just doesn't exist, said Herrera.
Albores has said more than 500 mining projects are delayed pending review, while budget ministry data indicates that over 750 mining projects are suspended, a June report showed.
The latter figure probably also includes mines where exploration work has been put on hold by the companies themselves.
Herrera said miners must not only comply with all environmental safeguards, including the proper maintenance of 660 so-called tailing ponds which hold toxic mining waste and are all under review, but they also must consult communities before launching projects.
Asked if such consultations would give both indigenous and non-indigenous communities a veto over mines, Herrera said they cannot be exercises in vain that carry no consequences. Beyond rigorous adherence to their environmental and social obligations, Herrera offered one more tip to miners.
My recommendation is: don't look for shortcuts.