Southern Copper Receives Permission to Mine Expansion

The Peruvian government has said it has reached an environmental agreement on a project by South Copper, an investment of $ 1.2 billion to expand Tokepala's copper quarry. The project is expected to increase the country's copper production by 100,000 tons per year.

The construction of new mine facilities will add a new concentrator as well as increase the mine's storage capacity. The company is the largest producer and processor of copper, molybdenum, zinc, silver, lead and plans to complete construction work within 2 years.

The Department of Energy and Mines, according to the report, reviewed the report submitted by the company and decided to grant permission for the expansion and construction activities at the mine. The government also granted South Copper an environmental permit to operate the Tia Maria copper mine in August 2014.

South Copper is controlled by Grupo Mexico, the largest mining corporation in Mexico and also the third largest copper producer in the world. The corporation's activities are primarily concentrated in southern Peru and northern Mexico. Currently, 75.1 percent of South Copper is owned by a Mexican mining corporation. Grupo Mexico, said it will mine a total of 658,000 tonnes of copper from the mine. The company will try to implement plans to increase copper output from the mine by 75,000 tons in 2015.