In the same years , Porfirian mining reform laws in 1884 and 1892 scrapped colonial-era doctrine and established mineral rights for landowners , which revived the entire industry and attracted more foreign capital . In 1905 , after Huntington 's death , the largest producer in the region had become William Ludlow 's Mexican Coal & Coke Company , incorporated in New Jersey . That firm owned Las Esperanzas mines , the " most important mines in the Republic . " British industrialist William Broderick Cloete was also active in the region as an owner of land , rails , and coal mines . After Cloete died in the Sinking of the RMS Lusitania in May 1915 , the mining town Cloete in Sabinas , Coahuila was named for him
Sinking of the RMS Lusitania
Sinking of the RMS Lusitania
Coal mining in Mexico