The president reaffirms that no additional permits will be granted, environmental impacts are being reviewed, and the protection of strategic resources like lithium is prioritized.

Today, during the “People’s Morning Conference,” President Claudia Sheinbaum addressed the Mexico Plan, specifically focusing on the mining industry and concessions.

She also explained again why the open-pit mining ban proposed by former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador was withdrawn.

“Two weeks after we took office, I said that initiative had issues because banning all open-pit mining, as I discussed with President López Obrador, would mean prohibiting, for example, sand mines for construction or salt mines,” the president recalled.

Sheinbaum on the Mining Sector

During the Q&A session of the morning conference, the president stated that “no new concessions will be granted,” although a journalist pointed out that the issue was not new concessions but expansions of existing ones. Sheinbaum responded: “Alicia Bárcenas is working diligently to address the ongoing issue of tailings [mineral waste] contamination from various mining operations. There will be no new concessions,” the president firmly stated.

She also shared that “the law or constitutional reform, if it had passed as proposed, would have affected lithium mining, which is one of our goals for national sovereignty, as it could not have been developed in certain areas.”

She clarified that “mining is a high-impact activity, and in that sense, there are no new concessions. The existing mines are being reviewed for their environmental impact to determine to what extent they can continue operating.”

According to information provided by a reporter, José Fernando Aboitiz Saro, head of the Extractive Activities Coordination Unit at the Ministry of Economy, identified a disconnect between authorities and the mining sector.

Among the key points highlighted by the journalist was the issue of permits, noting that virtually no permits had been issued by the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat), or Conagua.

The reporter also emphasized that Aboitiz Saro mentioned in an interview that some permits were six years old, which was beginning to paralyze the sector, leading to the release of a “significant number of permits at Semarnat.”

In response to this data, Sheinbaum commented that “these are not permits for new mining operations but rather resolutions regarding how mine tailings are managed.”

She also explained that the mining industry has not stopped, but “the issue is how much open-pit mining is allowed, which is one of the activities with the greatest environmental impact, not only in Mexico but worldwide.”

“Some permits were related to activities currently carried out at mines to improve the environmental impact of existing operations,” the president clarified.

The reporter then cited Raquel Buenrostro, former Minister of Economy under AMLO, who stated that “the mining sector barely pays taxes relative to its total revenue and is among the industries with the most corruption tied to regulations from the Ministry of Economy.”

According to figures mentioned by the journalist, in 2021, the mining sector generated $16.68 billion, with large taxpayers paying 2.4% of their total income, while salaried workers paid between 30% and 35%, and mining companies paid 0.0002%.

In response, Sheinbaum stated that the Mexican people would never be lied to or have information hidden from them, promising to present all details related to mining activities.

She also explained that existing mining concessions require permits for their operations, which are not issued just once but are “permits related to tailings placement, water treatment, and many other aspects of current mining activities.”

To conclude, the president noted that some concessions needed to be granted to ensure at least a reduction in environmental impacts compared to previous levels. If mining activities continue, a thorough review is required to determine whether open-pit mining is feasible.

Original Article: https://www.infobae.com/mexico/2025/06/23/sheinbaum-afirma-que-no-habra-ninguna-concesion-minera-nueva-se-analiza-impacto-ambiental/