Mexico City-based Grupo Mexico, which owns the ASARCO copper mines in Arizona in addition to copper mines in Mexico and South Americas along with 70 percen of the railroads in Mexico, has released its financial results for the first six months of this year.

Stockolders were told Grupo Mexico had a net profit of $801 million (U.S dollars). Cash flow for the period was $1.18 billion. Consolidated sales for all of its operations for the first six months totaled $4.51 billion, which was 13 percent higher than this time last year.

Total copper production was 495,778 tons, which was a drop of 6 percent from a year ago. The company noted copper production at its ASARCO mines was down 18 percent due to a partial shutdown at its operations at Hayden, Ariz. and also from low grade copper ore being produced at its Cuajone Mine in Mexico.

During the first six months of 2017, the average cash cost to produce copper at all of its mines was $1.12 a pound, which is up 4 percent from last year.

Molybdenum production decreased 2 percent to 10.670 tons, while silver production was 81,156 tons, also a decrease of 2 percent.

As far as ASARCO’s huge Buena Vista Copper mining operation located southwest of Douglas, Ariz. in the Sonora state of Mexico, share holders were told the $3.265 billion Buena Vista mine construcion program was now 100 percent complete and it was done at $101 million, less than the amount originally budgeted for. 

The Buena Vista mine was expected to increase copper production from 180,000 metric tons to 500,000 metric tons a year.

The operation’s new crushing, conveying and spreading system for leachable copper cost $327 million to build.

Ted Lake can be reached at teddlake@yahoo.com.