Sonora

Sonora is Mexico's largest mining state by output and hosts the country's most significant copper, gold, and silver districts (Cananea, Buenavista, La Herradura, Mulatos, Pinos Altos). The state borders Arizona and benefits from excellent transport, power, and labour-market infrastructure. Mining is historically central to state identity and politics, and state-level treatment of operating mines has been more constructive than the federal rhetoric suggests.

The federal open-pit moratorium and concession freeze still apply — Sonora cannot insulate developers from those constraints — but for operating mines and projects already permitted, Sonora is the lowest-friction Mexican jurisdiction. Cartel violence has crept north over the past five years but remains less acute than in Sinaloa or Guerrero.