Reuters – Mexico’s tax agency is holding over $360 million in tax rebates owed to six Canadian miners, including $230 million to Goldcorp Inc, according to sources and official documents seen by Reuters, escalating the situation into a showdown between the Mexican government and Canadian mining firms operating there.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mexico-mining-tax-exclusive-idUSKBN18Z15Z
Mining – Canada’s Endeavour Silver has completed the acquisition of Silver Standard Resources’ exploration properties in the historic silver mining district of Hidalgo de Parral in Chihuahua.
http://www.mining.com/endeavour-silver-becomes-the-sole-owner-of-el-parral-properties-in-mexico/
Reuters – Canadian miners are seeking a meeting with Mexico’s president to air grievances about issues ranging from the rule of law to aggressive tax collection, according to an unusually strident letter by an industry group.
Reuters – Canada’s Goldcorp Inc said it was temporarily shutting down operations at its Peñasquito gold mine in Mexico, following a week-long blockade by a trucking contractor to protest the miner’s plans to diversify its local transportation supply chain.
Reuters – Mexico’s environmental prosecutor said it had kept regular oversight of the country’s largest gold mine, days after a Reuters report on a prolonged leak of contaminated water there prompted activists to accuse the agency of failing its mandate.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-goldcorp-leak-idUSKCN114007
Market Wired – Yamana Gold Inc. has entered into an agreement to sell 100 percent of its interest in the Mercedes mine in Sonora to Premier Gold Mines Limited in cash and equity securities valued at $140 million.
Platts – Mexican miner Minera del Norte (Minosa), a subsidiary of steelmaker Altos Hornos de Mexico (Ahmsa), has initiated operations at two new iron ore mines near its Hercules mine.
Reuters – Mexico’s top mining official says he backs the industry’s push for tax legislation that would save hundreds of millions of dollars a year in exploration costs, though they have yet to win over the country’s powerful finance ministry.
Vanguard – Because of operating outside authorized areas, failing to restore land and other environmental offenses, 16 mines -10 per cent – were closed in Coahuila in late 2015 and earlier this year. Six remain closed, while the other 10 corrected the irregularities.
http://www.vanguardia.com.mx/articulo/clausuran-10-de-minas-por-violar-ley-ambiental
Reuters – Torex Gold Resources said it will restart operations at a gold mine in Mexico on Thursday. Operations at its El Limon-Guajes mine had been suspended due to a blockade by three families demanding payments alleging environmental damages.
America Economia – Mexico lost its attraction for global mining investment in 2015, according to the think Canadian tank Fraser Institute, in whose sector ranking our country collapsed last year 13 places, to occupy the site 37 between 109 mining jurisdictions evaluated (countries and regions ).
A poor performance in public policies dominated, but especially erosion in the mineral potential of the country affected the final grade of Mexico (68.9 out of 100), who yielded to Peru (69.3 points) the second place among the most attractive countries for mining investment in Latin America (Chile remained the most attractive, with 79.8 points).
Mining – Close to 40,000 cubic meters of wastewater from a copper mine in northern Mexico spilled into rivers in 2014, forcing authorities to restrict water supply to urban areas. The leak, now considered the worst environmental disaster in the country’s history, came from Grupo Mexico’s Buenavista copper mine located only about 40 km from the U.S. border.
Sentido Comun – Minera Fresnillo, which operates six gold and silver mines in Mexico, produced 47 million ounces of silver in 2015, 4.4 percent more than in 2014. Gold production increased 28 percent over the previous year.
Bloomberg – Grupo Mexico is charging ahead into the worst metals market in 15 years, taking advantage of the slump to ramp up growth while competitors cut back and hunker down.
Sentido Comun – Compania Minera Autlan, the leading producer of metal alloys for the steel industry in North America, has indefinitely suspended operations at its plant in Gomez Palacio, Durango, due to unfair conditions in the Mexican market.
El Dario -The Villa La Paz mine in San Luis Potosi collapsed Thursday night on two levels, trapping as many as 50 to 60 miners inside. The mine is owned by Grupo Mexico.
http://diario.mx/Nacional/2015-10-15_befef7fa/reportan-derrumbe-en-mina-de-san-luis-potosi/
CNNExpansión – Mexican mining company Penoles suspended operations indefinitely in the Naica mine in Saucillo, Chihuahua, after it failed to reduce the level of water after a flood in January.
Northern Miner – At a time when lower commodity prices are fueling cost-cutting and restructuring across the mining sector, Pan American Silver is pushing ahead with expansion projects at two of its three mines in Mexico and financing both with existing cash reserves.
http://www.northernminer.com/news/pan-american-silver-expands-mexico-operations/1003703061/
Sentido Comun -Electric vehicle company Tesla Motors signed an agreement with Bacanora Minerals and Rare Earth Minerals, two companies that own the Sonora Lithium Project, which consists of a set of lithium mines, to acquire lithium hydroxide, a key to their car production.
Sentido Comun – ArcelorMittal, the largest steel producer in the world, and the National Union of Mine, Metal, Steel and Allied Workers agreed to a wage increase of 5.5 percent for workers at company mines near the port of Lazaro Cardenas in Michoacan.