Carlos Slim to open gold mines in Mexico

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Carlos Slim is eyeing gold.

The Mexican magnate and world’s richest man announced that one of his major companies has plans to open two mines in Mexico’s northern state of Chihuahua, in an investment of about $367 million. The new mining operation is expected to generate 4,000 jobs, said the governor of the violence-plagued state, where Ciudad Juarez is located.

In a news conference in Chihuahua City, Gov. Cesar Duarte called the plan a ‘breath of fresh air.’

Mining is a booming sector for Slim’s empire. The new mines will extract gold, zinc and other minerals. Earlier this year, a police raid allowed the company Grupo Mexico to regain control of a mine in northern Mexico that striking workers had occupied for almost three years. That mine in Cananea, Sonora, is slowly reopening.

-- Daniel Hernandez in Mexico City