Southern Copper Corporation increased at a year-on-year rate of 0.8% its investments in mining exploration in 2025, to US$61.4 million.

With the exception of 2022, the company has maintained a steady increase in its investments in this area since 2017.

Investments in mining exploration

Southern Copper Corporation conducts exploration activities to locate additional mineral deposits in Peru, Mexico, Argentina and Chile. 

The company’s mining exploration investments, in millions of dollars, are shown below:

• 2016: 40.1.
• 2017: 28.8.
• 2018: 29.8.
• 2019: 30.0.
• 2020: 32.6.
• 2021: 43.4.
• 2022: 41.7.
• 2023: 55.0
• 2024: 60.9.
• 2025: 61.4.

Concessions

Currently, Southern Copper Corporation directly controls 64,069 hectares and 136,256 hectares of exploration concessions in Peru and Mexico, respectively. It also owns 146,014 hectares and 28,268 hectares of exploration concessions in Argentina and Chile, respectively.

In Mexico, the company has 502,688 hectares in concessions from the Mexican government for its exploration and exploitation activities.

These are the company’s concession areas in Mexico, in thousands of hectares:

• 2017: 532.
• 2018: 534.
• 2019: 534.
• 2020: 503.
• 2021: 494.
• 2022: 493.
• 2023: 503.
• 2024: 503.

In Mexico, the company is required, among other things, to explore or exploit the corresponding concession, to pay the corresponding fees, to comply with all environmental and safety regulations, to provide information to the Ministry of Economy and to allow its inspections.

On May 9, 2023, the Mexican Congress approved several amendments with immediate effect to the Mining Law, the National Water Law, the General Law of Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection, and the General Law for the Prevention and Integral Management of Waste. 

The main aspects of Southern Copper Corporation’s business that will be affected by the legislation are the terms of mining concessions, which will be reduced from 50 to 30 years; new conditions for water use; the granting of guarantees for site closure and remediation; a new contribution of 5% of net profits to indigenous communities for new projects; and significant changes in exploration rules.

The company’s mining concessions (hectares) are shown below:

• IMMSA: 223,313.
• La Caridad: 103,821.
• Buenavista: 93,706.
• Projects: 81,848.
• Total: 502,688.