About

The world’s leading silver producer from ore and one of Mexico’s largest gold producers, Fresnillo has an extensive portfolio of world-class operating mines and pipeline growth projects. As the first Mexican firm to have its primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and a constituent of the FTSE 100 index, the legal team has reinforced and added to their position in the market. Amongst some of the challenges of operating in this sector, the mining field in Mexico has undergone large changes in its regulatory framework. Mexican environmental regulations have changed as a result of international agreements that Mexico has ratified, including the North American agreement on environmental cooperation and the United Nations Framework Convention on climate change and convention on biological diversity. This has resulted in the legal department having to work towards obtaining environmental impact permits from SEMARNAT, ministry of the environment and natural resources, prior to any mining and exploration activities, including water extraction, tailings disposal and water discharge. The Fresnillo legal department is led by Carlos Ortiz Mena, who in his role as head of legal, has assisted the company in staying abreast of these environmental impacts.