“What about security?” the investor grilled a company spokesperson next to me. I glanced over to watch the poor fellow launch into a series of non-answers. His company had projects in Mexico…so it was top of mind. 

I am at the giant Prospectors and Developers of Canada (PDAC) conference in Toronto. I got into town on Sunday and immediately went to the conference. The topics of Mexico and its recent violence are hot topics right now. 

Mexican Mayhem

If you missed it, here’s why…

On January 23, 2026, armed gunmen kidnapped ten miners from Vizsla Silver’s (AMEX: VZLA) Panuco project. Authorities found the men’s graves on February 9, 2026. It was a horrible outcome that I wrote about in this essay.

The official Mexican government claims it was a case of mistaken identity… that the men got caught up in a turf war between the Chapitos and La Mayiza cartels. The story is that the Chapitos believed the miners were part of the rival gang.

Many of my friends in Mexico dispute that official line. 

The Mexican government retaliated on February 22, 2026. They attacked and killed “El Mencho,” the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. According to Reuters, the United States military fed the Mexican government intelligence on the cartel. That facilitated the raid.

The U.S. launched the Joint Interagency Task Force Counter Cartel to map out networks of drug cartel members both in Mexico and the U.S. 

Immediately following the attack on El Mencho, the cartel responded by blocking roads across 20 Mexican states. One of my friends hunkered down at his camp to ride out the violence. 

On his ride home, he encountered twenty-five burnt-out vehicles. They blocked major roads around his town. It’s a testament to the vicious reprisals of the cartel:

Vizsla Silver’s stock took a beating after the violence, as you can see:

However, it wasn’t just Vizsla Silver’s shares that fell. It doesn’t matter where in Mexico the companies operated…the stock sold off. 

Now the stock rout is over. Even Vizsla shares are recovering. And other Mexico-focused companies are rallying too. Companies like Minaurum Silver (TSXV: MGG), which owns the Alamos Silver Project in Sonora, Mexico, saw its shares bounce back to near all-time highs:

The truth is that there is jurisdictional risk in Mexico. I talked about mordita in that last essay. It’s something you must deal with if you work there. Sadly, cartel violence happens. I remember hearing from friends about places they couldn’t go to on certain days. Community members would warn them ahead of time.

However, my friend said life is slowly returning to normal. People are still shell-shocked. But life goes on. 

That’s life as a miner in many parts of the world. The rocks are where they are. Sometimes the really great deposits happen in really bad places. 

As The Rock Turns

I visited Turkey several years ago, and we stayed in the western part of the country due to civil unrest. Westerners were unwelcome, so I didn’t take the chance. And when I was in Erbil, Iraq… we travelled in two armored vehicles with armed guards. 

But in Iraq, the guards told me the two vehicles weren’t for insurgents. The second car was there because if we got into an accident, they would take me back to the hotel while my team took care of the damaged vehicle. It was a safety precaution.

We didn’t have any problems at all. However, when I told my father that I was going to Iraq, he lost his mind. Because all he knew was what CNN fed him. He heard Iraq and imagined war, shooting, and IEDs. 

It wasn’t that way at all. This was pre-Syrian war. Life in Erbil was good. Foreign oil companies were there, exploring. People went for evening strolls in the mist of fountains. I drank tea with Kurds who returned to Erbil after the fall of Saddam. They were great people. 

That’s important to understand because, right now, investors are overpricing the risk in Mexico. Like my dad’s response to Iraq, investors want assurances. They want to know about safety. 

It’s a valid question. But it shouldn’t be the only question. And it should be evaluated as part of the risk assessment of these companies.

Wrap Up

Mines are big holes in the ground…stuff can go wrong. They are high-risk, high-reward speculations. Investors can get way too excited about both good and bad. And sometimes, that’s an opportunity.