Sustainable Mine Closure Planning in Mexican Law

Mining is an extremely important economic sector for Mexico, and is considered one of the extractive activities that trigger the country's development by providing the raw materials necessary to satisfy the needs of modern society.However, like all extractive activities, mining, during its operation, requires the use of large amounts of natural resources, thus generating negative impacts on the environment, natural resources and human health; impacts that may increase if adequate measures are not taken at the end of a mining company's operations.Environmental legislation in Mexico is ambiguous and scattered with regard to the regulation of the last stage of the useful life of a mine, i.e., the termination of operations of a mining company. In addition to this, there is an excess of discretionary powers on the part of the country's environmental authorities, resulting in negative impacts.