About Our Company

Years of experience

About Minerales Industriales de Sonora

The discovery of the first graphite deposit in Mexico dates back to 1867, located 30 kilometers north of San Marcial, Sonora.

By 1890, La Colorada had become a mining center where English companies exploited one of the region’s richest gold deposits from the late 18th and early 19th centuries. News of discoveries spread quickly, attracting the attention of Henry and Edward Wickes from Saginaw, Michigan. They had heard about a valuable graphite deposit in the mountains south of La Colorada and decided to venture there.

In 1891, Mr. Leonardo Aguirre filed the first graphite claim named “Santa Maria.” After negotiations with the Wickes brothers, they acquired the property, establishing the first commercially exploited graphite mine in the region under the US Graphite Co. from 1895 to 1917.

Concurrently, Leonardo Aguirre began exploring other areas for graphite deposits.

With the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, the demand for graphite skyrocketed. By 1917, the reserves of the US Graphite Co. proved insufficient to meet production needs. Seeking to acquire new properties, the company reached an agreement with the Aguirre family, resulting in the acquisition of the mine. In 1918, the US Graphite Co., based in Saginaw, Michigan, increased its annual capacity from 2,000 to 4,000 metric tons.

From 1918 to 1960, the US Graphite Co. emerged as the primary producer of amorphous graphite in the Americas. However, operations ceased in 1997 due to high costs and stiff competition from Chinese graphite, which led to low prevailing prices.

In 1960, Jesus Aguirre Garcia founded Grafitos Mexicanos SA de CV to work on and develop graphite reserves for the growing industry.

In 1968, Engineer Carlos A. Aguirre Calles took charge of Grafitos Mexicanos with the vision of industrializing graphite. At that time, the company possessed 318,000 tons of reserves in the mine, with an annual exploitation rate of 30,000 tons, suggesting a 10-year lifespan for those reserves.

Leveraging his mining and geological expertise, Carlos Aguirre Calles extensively explored the region, discovering and developing numerous new graphite deposits across Sonora. This ensured a reliable supply for the industry. He established an industrial plant for processing and supplying graphite on a national and international scale. In 1997, he founded Minerales Industriales de Sonora S de RL de CV, which remains his current company.

Quality Policy

Provide quality coal products and services to our customers, through the teamwork, training of our staff and focus of our processes on continuous improvement seeking to exceed internal and external expectations.

Mission And Vision

Our mission is to meet the requirements of our customers through teamwork , personnel training and focus of our processes on continuous improvement seeking excellence in processes, product and on time delivery.

The vision of Minerales Industriales de Sonora is to be one of the main suppliers of coal products at a national and international level that provide high quality products.

Our values:
– Excellence
– Safety focus
– Honesty
– Customer focus
– Integrity
– Team work