2010 Production To Hit 250,000 Tonnes
Grupo Mexico Sees Country Becoming No 2 In World
Mexico’s copper output is expected to be 250,000 tonnes in 2010, a rise of 5% over the 2009 figure, according to the head of Grupo Mexico’s mining division, Xavier Garcia de Quevado told reporters on Wednesday.
He added that this figure did not include any output from the company’s Cananea mine near the US border, which has been shut for almost three years due to a strike by the mine’s workforce. A court recently ruled against the strike, but the union has refused to end its occupation of the facility.
Mr Garcia de Quevado said that the strike was blocking $5 billion in investments planned by Grupo Mexico for Cananea and the El Arco project in Baja California. The $2 billion El Arco is expected to start production on 2012; copper mined there and at other sites owned by Grupo Mexico would probably be sent to Cananea. Capacity at El Arco would be around 190,000 tonnes per year.
Cananea itself is line for a $3 billion investment which will boost output to 460,000 tonnes a year from the present 190,000 tonnes. Once El Arco and Cananea are working at full capacity, it is expected that Mexico will become the world’s second-largest copper producer behind Chile. Grupo Mexico is the country’s largest copper miner.
However there is no indication as to when Cananea will reopen. Despite the recent court ruling Mr Garcia de Quevado could not say if and when the unions are likely to hand back the facility to its management and indicated that the unions are still refusing to back down in the dispute, which is over health and safety issues.
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