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Some US$383 million was invested in exploration in 2018, down 37.4% from the $612 million in 2017 and 67.1% below the 2012 high of $1.1 billion.
The majority of exploration spending was from Canadian-listed junior explorers, which saw increasing uncertainty in Mexico due to social conflicts, said the chamber, although as data on Canadian equity raises for miners from Oreninc shows, a downward trend in access to finance was perhaps the main reason.
Camimex cites stoppages such as the blockade of the Peñasquito gold mine of Newmont Goldcorp in Zacatecas, and at the MAG Silver project in Chihuahua, as examples of social conflict led by groups that are trying to extract greater benefits from companies.
"In general, the economy of extortion is a factor of uncertainty for mining activity," said president of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Mexico, Armando Ortega.
