Data released Tuesday states the rate was constant at 0.09 failures per billion tonnes of production in both the decades of 2000-2009 and 2010-2019.

The PEA puts the gross revenues over 15 years of mining at $3.7 billion.

Lopez Obrador vowed to keep lithium resources in the state's hands after suffering a blow earlier this year with the rejection of an electricity reform proposal.

Mexico's mining industry plans to invest $5.5 billion in 2022.

Volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits have been a core source of copper, zinc and sometimes gold mineralization for over 150 years and remain the mainstay of some major mining camps worldwide.

Engineers meanwhile are working on sealing off the Pinabete mine from the nearby Conchas Norte mine.

The surge came from the nearby Conchas Norte mine, which closed due to flooding in 1996 and has since accumulated nearly 2 million cubic metres of water.

The company received an extension to its environmental permit in late July.