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TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Mexico’s appeal for Canadian mining investment has remained rock solid, with almost $290-million in investment a year secured over the last five years via the TSX and TSX-V, an audience at OntheGround’s recent Mine Latin America seminar was told.
However, security issues and a higher rate of royalties were a concern, as was corruption at local municipal and regional levels.
“But the overall story surrounding Mexico remains positive; there’s a general sense that this is a country people want to do business in,” Control Risks Latin America risk analysis Simon Whistler said. “Companies want to be there and see a lot of potential.”
SOME PRESSURES
Mexico’s various resource sectors had come under pressure because of the general downturn in commodities. “In several places, a number of operations have been suspended due to the prevailing commodity price environment,” Bordeaux Capital principal Max Satel noted.
Despite the headwinds, the government, headed by President Enrique Peña Nieto, has continued to pursue important reforms, particularly in the energy and oil sectors.
This included allowing private oil companies to invest in Mexico for the first time in several decades, easing the monopoly grip of State-owned Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) with the hope of increasing output. Pemex’s crude production stood at almost 2.28-million barrels a day for October, compared with 3.3-million barrels a day in 2004.
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