Exploration which is currently conducted, as well as the construction of mines, plants and operation, said the official.

Roque Diaz noted that the Mexican mining sector is experiencing a boom thanks to high prices of minerals, the geological wealth, communications infrastructure and a stable legal framework and competitive.

He stressed that in Mexico at present some 600 exploration projects are funded by the Toronto Stock Exchange, Canada, which provide 88 percent of the global mining capital.

I think this is a sign of potential geological interest, but at the same time give investors confidence that the global financial market in Mexico as a destination for investment', said the official.

Roque Diaz gave a report on the mining sector in his country during the 2008 Latin American Mining Congress, which meets in Miami about 100 analysts and industry consultants.

The official stressed the potential of the Mexican Mining and said that although this sector accounts for only 3.6 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), just less than 25 percent of the national territory has been explored.

He indicated that Canada is the largest investor with 178 companies which comprise 78 percent of foreign investment, followed by America with 14 companies and 14 per cent. Mientras que el 73 por ciento de la producción incluye oro, plata, cobre y zinc. While 73 percent of production includes gold, silver, copper and zinc.

One of the key topics of the panel in which besides representatives of Colombia and Ecuador was the security for foreign investment and political stability.

Hernan Martinez Torres, finance minister of Colombia, agreed on the mining boom driven by high raw material prices.

He said that his country is receiving a large group of potential investors, thanks to the government of President Alvaro Uribe has improved safety levels by reducing the guerrillas.

Jose Serrano, deputy minister of Mines of Ecuador, for its part said that the new legal framework for mining in Ecuador must be approved in August by Congress' with a structure that will lead to the country '.

Investors showed concern in that country after last April that the constituent assembly invalidated hundreds of exploration concessions.

Eva Thorne, an analyst at Corporate Governance Solutions, called for Congress to Venezuela and Bolivia as potential markets of "risk" to Ecuador as "moderate" because Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Colombia and Argentina as "friendly" for investment.