The impact of organised crime on the mining sector.
Canada-based McEwen Mining said on May 11 that it was on track to meet annual production targets despite last month's theft of 900 kilos of gold concentrate from its El Gallo mine in Mexico. On April 6, eight heavily armed robbers burst into the mine in Sinaloa state and walked away with concentrate containing gold worth 8.5 million dollars -- equivalent to two-fifths of the mine's quarterly production. Suspicion inevitably fell on the local Sinaloa cartel. Company CEO Rob McEwen seemed to acknowledge that up to that point the mining company had cooperated with the cartel, putting the question of the relationship between mining companies and drug traffickers back on the table.
Greater fragmentation of Mexican cartels will lead to increasing criminal targeting of mining businesses.
Following the general pattern of insecurity, companies operating in Michoacan and Guerrero are most at risk.
The April heist at the El Gallo mine suggests that more independent gangs are also now operating in Sinaloa.
Mining company experiments with supporting self-defence organisations seem to have failed.
