Mexico has a fairly long history of mining which dates back almost 500 years. Today, it continues to stand as one of the world’s largest producers of metal and it is known as a major destination for mineral exploration.
A Brief History
The bedrock deposits of the great silver-gold vein system of the Veta Madre at Guanajuato were discovered in the year 1550 and unearthed almost immediately. El Oro, one of the leading gold districts but presently without any significant gold deposits, was discovered in 1521, developed to a great extent by 1530, and mined regularly with some interruptions for about 400 years in the following period generating an output in excess of 5 million oz. of gold.
In the late sixteenth century, the mining industry in Mexico began expanding. Mexican President José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz brought about modernization of the mining sector during his presidential career, which lasted for thirty-four years (except for 1880 to 84). In 1884, mining code was reformed and subsoil ownership was given to landowners.
The miners in Sonoran Mexico adopted a method for pulverizing gold ore that required no water in the primary stages of gold processing. Termed as the arrastre, this system comprised of an upright axle with large spokes that used horses or mules dragging a heavy rock in a circular motion, which would pulverize the ore. After the rock was pulverized, the miners then made use of gold pans for the final processing.
“A New Gold Rush”
Mining is now returning to Mexico in a big way as the prices of metals – particularly precious metals – have increased. Rich mineral deposits and fair mining regulations in Mexico have also been contributing factors to an increased mining community and mines that were shut down in the first part of the twentieth century are being restarted and are turning profits once again.
A new gold rush fuelled by increased foreign investment in gold exploration and development activities brought Mexico’s mining output to a record high in the year 2007.
Speaking at the Prospectors and Developers’ Association of Canada convention, Mexico’s economy minister Eduardo Sojo Garza-Aldape said Mexico’s gold mining is currently experiencing the “best period” in its history.
Investment by foreign companies in Mexico has taken a huge leap to about $700 million in 2007 from a meager $750,000 in the year 2000. Many locals are also reaping the benefits, with 300,000 people employed in the mining industry, as of 2007.
One of the companies in the region is Newstrike Capital. Though they are strictly an exploration company, members of their team have been instrumental in discovering major gold deposits in the Guerrero Gold Belt – a mineral rich area in the southwest of Mexico.
With strategic landholdings in both Guerrero and Oaxaca, Newstrike is poised to find even more gold in an area that has – to date – yielded over three million gold ounces in every discovery and is still proving itself to be a historically mineral rich mining district.
SOURCE:
History of Mining in Mexico