Intro

The mining activity in Oaxaca generates an average annual economic spillover of 8,440 million pesos and creates 9,000 jobs. Mexico is a country with a mining vocation, it is the main producer of silver in the world and Oaxaca is the fifth national producer of this metal, with a capacity to obtain 3,750 tons per day with an annual production volume of more than 10 million troy ounces, according to figures issued by the Mining Directorate of the Ministry of Economy (SE).

Through geological time, the state of Oaxaca has been affected by several important tectonic events, proof of this is its complex geological structure of its territory, however, from a mining point of view, this makes it more attractive, since in its rugged orography, two large mountain ranges converge and form a third, promising to hold in its lithological entrails that form deposits of minerals of interest and economic yield.

Despite having a mining history that dates back to pre-Hispanic times when its inhabitants obtained gold and silver with their own techniques for their clothing and jewelry, currently the entity has not been explored outside of known mining districts and mineralized areas, there are still areas with promising reserves and laws without quantification, such as: copper, silver, gold, zinc, antimony, and non-metallic minerals such as: micas, zeolites, marble, travertine and granite. The minerals that make up the most important mines in the state are: silver, copper, iron, crystalline graphite, mineral coal, gypsum and travertine, it is important to mention that there are projects in the state with great vision that due to a lack of infrastructure and mining culture, have not been able to develop.

In any case, specialists, the government and private capital agree that the mining potential of the state can be outlined as one of the most important in Mexico, because its mineral wealth offers a wide variety of metallic and non-metallic deposits.

It is expected that the mining of metallic and non-metallic minerals will reach significant development, since the entity has deposits of copper, silver, zinc, iron, graphite, coal, micas (vermiculite, phlogopite, muscovite and biotite), in addition to the dimensionable rocks such as onyx, marble, green and pink quarry, travertine, gypsum, barite, granite and limestone (for the cement, lime and aggregate industries).

The state of Oaxaca is located in the southern part of Mexico, between the geographic coordinates 18o 40' north, 15o 39' north latitude, 93o 52' east, 98o 32' west longitude, with a territorial extension of 93,757 km2, representing 4.8% of the country's surface and the 5th place for its extension. It borders the states of Puebla and Veracruz to the north, the Pacific Ocean to the south with an important coastal area of 598 km long, the state of Chiapas to the east and the state of Guerrero to the west. Politically, economically and socially, it is divided into eight geoeconomic regions, 30 political districts and 570 municipalities, with 531 municipalities having less than 10,000 inhabitants. In 2020, there were 4,132,148 inhabitants in the state of Oaxaca, where 47.80% are men and 52.20% are women, with a population density of 44 per km2. There are 16 different ethnic groups living in the territory and it is home to the largest number of people in Mexico who speak indigenous languages exclusively (26% of the national total), although a significant proportion of the population is mestizo, the majority of urban centers are indigenous with no mix of European blood.

The communication routes include eight federal highways, three railway routes, four seaports, of which only the port of Salina Cruz is deep water and has port infrastructure services, the others are only for fishing and tourism, three international airports and three main airports and 115 airports and numerous dirt runways strategically located in areas with difficult access. The telecommunications network is mainly composed of microwaves, telephone, mail and in some parts cellular phone.

The volume and value of mining production in the state

The value of mining production in the state during the period January-December 2020 reached 19,717 million pesos for metallic minerals and 402,608 million pesos for non-metallic minerals, for a total of 422,326 million pesos, representing 17.29% of the national total value.

According to preliminary figures:

1/ Construction minerals. Figures calculated based on cement and lime consumption.

2/ Includes mining extraction and that obtained from refining crude oil. Figures corrected based on information provided by PEMEX. 3/ Construction minerals. Figures calculated based on cement consumption.

Source: Document Control Directorate, General Directorate of Mines, Ministry of Economy, National Institute of Statistics and Geography, S. H. C. P., PEMEX, Material Banks, Subsecretariat of Infrastructure, S.C.T., and Direct Research.

Value of Mining Production, 2016-2020

Mining Sites: