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Figure 3.2. Compania Minera Cananea, 1980-86 (Current assests/current liquidity)
The discrepancy between the short-term objectives of the directors of CMC and the appropriate long-term objectives for a copper company whose deposit has an approximate life of 70 years caused a coordination problem. The public administration in Mexico changes more or less regularly every six years. This caused a problem in both the management and the operation of the mine. Because of the six-year perspective, the directors were looking for a slope size that would make the company's operations profitable in the short term and they ignored the optimal stope size for regular, long-term operation of the mine and the metallurgical complex.4 Moreover, any attempt by the company to change the labor situation to increase efficiency would take between four and five years, the time required to stabilize worker-employer relations and to generate positive results for the company. For a public official with a shorter outlook, who considered the manage-
4
A stope is an open pit in which all of the operations necessary for removing the ore are carried out. Strip mining is a process whereby the surface material is removed to expose the ore.
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THE PRIVATIZATION PROCESS IN MEXICO