Mina Proaño, an underground

silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

mine located in central

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

, is one of the world's largest and most profitable silver mines. The mine is located just outside the city of

Fresnillo Fresnillo (/fres'nijo/), founded in 1554 by Francisco de Ibarra, is the second largest city in Zacatecas state, north central Mexico and the seat of Fresnillo municipality. As a rail and highway junction, Fresnillo is the center of a rich mining ...

Zacatecas , image_map = Zacatecas in Mexico (location map scheme).svg , map_caption = State of Zacatecas within Mexico , coordinates = , coor_pinpoint = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type ...

; and is also known as Mina Fresnillo and Fresnillo Silver Mine. The mining operation is run by

Peñoles Peñoles is a subsidiary company owned by Grupo BAL. Peñoles is the second largest Mexican mining company, the first Mexican producer of gold, zinc and lead and the world leader in silver production. Peñoles is a company with active mines wi ...

, which has been controlled by

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

-based

Grupo BAL Grupo BAL is a cluster of Mexican companies in various sectors of the economy. Its president was Alberto Gonzalez Baillères,the second richest man in Mexico in 2013, according to '' Forbes''. Gonzalez's son Alejandro Baillères has been preside ...

since 1967. In 2004, Mina Proaño produced almost 32 million

troy ounce Troy weight is a system of units of mass that originated in 15th-century England, and is primarily used in the precious metals industry. The troy weight units are the grain, the pennyweight (24 grains), the troy ounce (20 pennyweights), and th ...

s (995,000 kg) of silver. Silver mining activity in the Fresnillo area can be traced back to 1550. As is quite common with long-running large-scale mining operations, especially silver mining, which uses large quantities of

cyanide Cyanide is a naturally occurring, rapidly acting, toxic chemical that can exist in many different forms. In chemistry, a cyanide () is a chemical compound that contains a functional group. This group, known as the cyano group, consists of ...

, there have been allegations of mine-related pollution including contamination of water sources, increased illness rates amongst cattle and people, and increased air pollution. This particular mine has obtained

ISO 14000 ISO 14000 is a family of standards related to environmental management that exists to help organizations (a) minimize how their operations (processes, etc.) negatively affect the environment (i.e. cause adverse changes to air, water, or land); (b) ...

certification of its environmental management processes and equipment, and has received a "Clean Industry Registration" from Mexican authorities. The mining company has also established an "ecological park", which is basically a sanctuary for over a hundred species of mammals, birds and reptiles. This park, established in 2004, was designed as a public area (''Parque los Jales'') and includes lakes, paths and open areas for physical exercise and relaxation. The park was established on land formerly occupied by a

tailings In mining, tailings are the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction ( gangue) of an ore. Tailings are different to overburden, which is the waste rock or other material that ove ...

pond A pond is an area filled with water, either natural or artificial, that is smaller than a lake. Defining them to be less than in area, less than deep, and with less than 30% emergent vegetation helps in distinguishing their ecology from tha ...

References

External links

Industrias Peñoles Official Site
Silver mines in Mexico Underground mines in Mexico {{Zacatecas-geo-stub