Mexican mining company Industrias Peñoles has temporarily suspended operations at its zinc mining unit, Francisco I. Madero, located in Morelos, Zacatecas. The company said it based this decision on the low ore grade it has encountered over the last several months, its hardness and the depth of the orebodies. That together with the abrupt drop in the price of zinc and the high cost of the operation have made this mining unit no longer viable.
Madero began operations in 2001. In 2019, it mined and milled 2.3 million metric tons (mt) of ore and produced 41,541 mt of zinc and 8,905 mt of lead. Peñoles said idling the Madero operations will not have material consequences for its production of refined zinc.
