Canadian Mining: Mexico’s Environmental and Poverty Toll
Massive gold, silver, and copper profits clash with toxic spills, rock-bottom wages, cartel threats, and furious protests in 2026.
Canadian mining companies are all over Mexico, digging up gold, silver, copper, and more, but the scene in early 2026 mixes big bucks with serious pushback over the environment, low wages, and other headaches.
Canada leads the pack in foreign mining down there, with Canadian firms holding about 70 percent of foreign operations. Hundreds of projects dot states like Sonora, Guerrero, Durango, and Jalisco. In 2024, Canadian mining assets in Mexico jumped by $1.5 billion, part of a Latin American boom where foreign investment hit billions yearly. Mexico’s mining pulled in around USD 5 billion in 2024, with production value topping USD 17 billion. Key players include Torex Gold, which got its Media Luna copper-gold-silver mine into commercial production in early 2025 and keeps ramping up. Endeavour Silver runs spots like Guanajuato and Bolañitos, with Terronera heading toward full swing. SilverCrest Metals pumps high-grade silver from Las Chispas, MAG Silver has a stake in Juanicipio, and Alamos Gold operates in Sonora. Orla Mining hit record production in 2025, pushing over 300,000 ounces of gold. New projects like Terronera and Media Luna are set to add millions of silver-equivalent ounces and gold annually in 2026.
These ops create thousands of jobs and pump cash into local economies, but low wages spark complaints. Mining often offers short-term, entry-level pay for locals, sometimes below what communities expect or need for a decent life. Labor issues pop up, including union-busting claims at some sites and struggles over fair pay amid rising costs. While Mexico has seen minimum wage hikes and labor reforms, mining wages in rural areas stay modest compared to the profits flowing north.
Controversies keep heating up. Environmental damage leads the charge, with accusations of water pollution, heavy metal leaks, cyanide spills, and land grabs hurting communities. In Guerrero, Equinox Gold’s Los Filos mine faced protests and shutdowns over alleged serious harm to ejidos, including contaminated rivers and failed remediation after agreements expired. Other cases involve health problems like respiratory issues from dust and chemicals. In late 2025, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian PM Mark Carney discussed a list of non-compliant Canadian companies, with Canada agreeing to push better environmental adherence and cleanup. Canadian miners adopted the Towards Sustainable Mining standard, but critics say it’s not tough enough.
Security adds risk, like the abduction of workers from Vizsla Silver’s project in Sinaloa tied to cartel violence. Fracking ties in indirectly. Mexico has long resisted hydraulic fracturing for shale gas, with bills to ban it alongside open-pit mining still in play. While most Canadian work targets metals, not oil/gas, the anti-fracking vibe reflects wider scrutiny on extractive impacts, pushing for stricter rules on water use and pollution.
Bottom line, Canadian miners bring investment and output to Mexico, but tensions over damage, low pay, and rights mean 2026 could see more talks and pressure for change.
BACKGROUNDER
The Los Filos mine is a major gold-silver operation in Guerrero State, Mexico, about 180 km south of Mexico City in the Eduardo Neri municipality. Owned 100% by Canadian company Equinox Gold, it’s one of the country’s larger open-pit gold mines, with additional underground components.
The mine includes three open pits (Los Filos, Bermejal, and Guadalupe) and two underground areas (Los Filos and Bermejal). Ore gets processed mainly through heap leaching, recovering gold and some silver. A 2022 feasibility study outlined a big expansion: adding a 10,000 tonne-per-day carbon-in-leach (CIL) plant alongside existing heap leach facilities, plus developing the Bermejal underground deposit. That would extend mine life to about 14.5 years, boost average annual production to around 280,000 ounces of gold (with peaks up to 360,000 oz/year in earlier years), and add over 1.1 million ounces to total life-of-mine output (estimated at 3.97 million ounces). Proven and probable reserves sit at roughly 5.4 million ounces of gold.
Historically, it produced around 200,000-220,000 ounces per year via heap leach alone. But as of February 17, 2026, operations remain indefinitely suspended. Equinox Gold halted activities on April 1, 2025, after the land access agreement with the Carrizalillo community expired on March 31, 2025. Long-term deals with all three nearby communities (including Mezcala and Xochipala) are needed for restart and any expansion. Agreements were reached with two communities by mid-2025, allowing some exploration and studies, but Carrizalillo held out, leading to protests, blockades, and even a full shutdown announced by the ejido in late 2025.
Controversies run deep. Communities accuse the mine of serious environmental damage, including water contamination with heavy metals like arsenic (causing skin issues, respiratory problems, birth defects, and other health harms documented since around 2010). Past incidents involved river pollution, failed remediation, and risks from leaching pads and waste dumps. In 2025, Mexico’s environmental agency (Profepa) partially closed parts of the site over non-compliance and risks, while locals claimed abandonment without proper maintenance led to uncontrolled pollution. Protests highlighted land occupation without fair renewal terms, lack of clean water promises, and broader social impacts.
Equinox has pushed for restarts and expansions (potentially unlocking $340 million in investment), with Guerrero state mediating talks. But no full resolution yet, Equinox excluded Los Filos from 2025 and 2026 production guidance (company-wide 2026 forecast: 700,000-800,000 oz from other sites). The situation ties into wider tensions over Canadian mining in Mexico, with calls for better community deals, environmental fixes, and respect for ejido rights.
If restarted with the CIL upgrade, Los Filos could become a key growth driver for Equinox, but community and regulatory hurdles keep it on pause for now.
