Mining companies are ramping up gold exploration in Latin America as areas before seen as risky, like southern Mexico and Colombia, are now glittering with new projects as precious metals prices soar. Exploration budgets, the first thing mining companies slashed during the financial crisis, plummeted 42 percent from 2008 to 2009, the largest one-year decline in two decades, according to consultancy M...

Canadian-based mining company Goldcorp is playing well south of the U.S. border. Why else would Mexican President Felipe Calderon attend Goldcorp's (GG) recent opening ceremony for a new mine in Penasquito? The president lauded Goldcorp for its $1.7 billion investment and for creating thousands of jobs. Once fully operational, the mine in the north-central region will be Mexico's largest. What's good for Me...