By: Dr. Franyi Sarmiento, Ph.D., Inspenet, April 5, 2022
Mexico’s mine production increased in January, driven by sharp increases in sulfur, zinc and lead volumes.
In general, the increase was 2.5% compared to the same month last year. The country produced 30,250t of sulfur, 57.7% more than in January 2021, as well as 30,156t of zinc and 14,176t of lead, representing respective increases of 19.2% and 9.8%.
Precious metal production also rose, with gold rising 5.3% to 7,159kg (230,000oz) and silver 2.5% to 334,501kg, according to data from statistics agency Inegi.
Iron pellet production grew 6.4% to 526,337t, and non-coking coal production rose 2.7% to 363,685t. For its part, copper volume fell 1.8% to 38,560t, fluorspar fell 3.1% to 80,796t, gypsum fell 4.2% to 505,835t, and coke fell 34.5% to 36,183t. .
Mine production grew 5.3% in 2021, after most operations were halted for two months the previous year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mexico is the world’s largest producer of silver and the number one gold producer in Latin America. It is also one of the world’s top 10 producers of copper, zinc and lead.