The Mexican federal government approved five new projects in four states between November 2025 and July 2026.
According to Pedro Rivero González, president of the Mexican Mining Chamber (Camimex), Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration brought about a positive shift in the mining sector. The government authorized projects worth $2.5 billion. This broke the previous deadlock through dialogue and provided a greater degree of certainty for investments.
New Mining Projects
From the perspective of the Ministry of Economy, these new investments were authorized in line with the commitment to strengthen sustainable and socially responsible mining.
Between November 2025 and July 2026, five new mining projects were authorized in the states of Durango, Jalisco, Sonora, and Zacatecas, all of which demonstrated best practices in sustainability.
From August to December 2025, five social and environmental oversight visits were conducted in the four states with authorized projects. As a result, this made it possible to assess the local environment, engage with communities, and promote social investments focused on actual local needs.
On February 4, 2026, the Ministry of Economy presented the U.S.-Mexico Action Plan on Critical Minerals to strengthen the bilateral supply chain and competitiveness in strategic inputs. Meanwhile, on February 12, President Sheinbaum revoked 1,126 mining concessions (889,512 hectares) after detecting nonpayment of fees and failure to comply with reporting requirements.
This ensured the protection of 249,108 hectares of Protected Natural Areas. It also reaffirmed national sovereignty over lithium and other strategic minerals.
In a second update, as of July 31, 2026, the federal government reported the recovery of 1.62 million hectares of national territory through the cancellation of 2,141 mining concessions. This represents 15% of the national territory that had been under concession as of October 2024.
Environmental Permits
In the environmental sphere, technical support was provided to ensure the continued processing of 70 applications related to 48 mining operations. As a result, this promoted responsible social and environmental practices. This outcome facilitated the operation of these mining operations in accordance with sustainability criteria. Additionally, this occurred in compliance with the regulations governing extractive activities.
These 48 mining units are located in 12 states: Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Michoacán, Oaxaca, San Luis Potosí, Sinaloa, Sonora, and Zacatecas.
Water and Mining
As part of the Federal Public Administration’s coordinated efforts to promote sustainable mining, technical support was provided to Semarnat and Conagua between September 1, 2025, and July 31, 2026, to expedite 74 procedures under review. This progress cleared the way for key authorizations and ensured the continuity of projects that are important to the country.