AND
it’s a mistake strategic to underestimate the vital importance of the mining sector for the economic, technological and labor development of the country. Mining is one of the industries that contributes the most to the national GDP, representing 2.77 percent in 2024. However, despite its enormous potential, the sector faces significant challenges that limit its growth and projection, which is reflected in the decrease in its participation in the national added value, which went from 19.9 percent in 2008 to just 7 percent in 2023. For Mexico to get the most out of this industry, it is essential strengthen it under three fundamental principles: respect for national laws and international agreements, respect for labor and community rights, and respect for the environment.
One of the most urgent challenges is the lack of specific secondary laws that regulate mining exploration and environmental remediation plans, necessary to ensure sustainable development and the conservation of ecosystems. Consequently, investment in mining exploration is at its lowest level in the recent decade, with estimates of only 583 million dollars for 2025, compared to 1,165 million in 2012, which restricts the ability to discover new deposits and renew depleted mineral reserves or those with lower metallic content; scenario that also increases costs and environmental risks.
In this context, mining must diversify to stop depending on imports of strategic minerals and guarantee fair and dignified conditions for mining workers, matching international standards. Key projects, such as LitioMX, need to be activated for the mining industry to take off, given the vital importance of lithium in the global energy transition. Today more than ever, it is crucial to create and consolidate the necessary institutions to guarantee the full development of this basic sector of the national economy.
A particularly strategic area is that of rare earths, minerals with unique properties essential for the manufacture of advanced technologies, such as permanent magnets for electric vehicles, wind generators, electronic devices and renewable energy technologies, which also serve the communications and commercial aeronautics and space sectors. Mexico has important deposits in states such as Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila and Oaxaca, which, together with its geographical proximity to the United States and current trade agreements with other countries, gives it magnificent potential to integrate into global value chains.
However, greater investment is still required in exploration, research and technological development for sustainable extraction and processing, in addition to taking advantage of the recovery of rare earths from electronic scrap to reduce environmental impacts and add economic value. Technological advances and global demands for these minerals cannot, under any circumstances, represent environmental harm to our nation.
In this sense, the State has an irreplaceable role as the guiding axis of mining economic policy, controlling the development and growth of the sector, especially in the face of the demands of new technologies and emerging minerals. We cannot leave everything in the hands of private investment because it is essential to protect the national heritage. From the National Union of Miners I have advocated at various international meetings for unity and defense of workers’ rights, accepting private investment, national or foreign, only if labor rights, national legislation, international conventions, communities and the environment are strictly respected. As I said at the beginning, these are the three key axes that should guide mining strengthening.
In addition, mining could benefit from the incorporation of technologies that allow optimizing decision-making to balance productivity and sustainability. However, structural challenges persist, such as job insecurity and depletion of reserves, which negatively affect the sector’s prospects. Namely: there is no mining without the skills, experience and dedication of mining workers; nor industrial growth without metals. Hence, it is urgent to expand labor rights and guarantee their full and effective compliance. At the same time, the recent tariff policies imposed by the United States, which generated significant falls in Mexican exports of steel and aluminum, demonstrate the need for solid national strategies to protect the sector from external factors.
In short, for mining in Mexico to recover and expand its strategic role, a firm commitment from the State is essential, a regulatory update that includes clear laws for exploration and environmental remediation, respect for labor and community rights, technological investment and the promotion of responsible diversification that allows achieving self-sufficiency in strategic minerals such as metals for the energy transition and rare earths. Only in this way, with an integrated vision that respects the fundamental principles, will mining be able to decisively contribute to the economic, technological and social development of the country.
As president and general secretary of the National Union of Miners, my commitment is to protect and fight for workers’ rights, but also to actively contribute to the shared and sustainable well-being of our nation.
