Grupo Mexico targets US expansion on copper boom

Mexican mining giant Grupo Mexico is weighing sizeable investments in the US to cash in on the copper boom, executives said on Wednesday.

In a long-awaited move, the firm said its Asarco unit was proceeding with plans to reopen and renovate its mothbolled Hayden smelter in Arizona and the Amarillo refinery in Texas.

The overhaul would cost an expected $230 million, mining head Leonardo Contreras told analysts following Grupo Mexico’s fourth-quarter earnings report.

The move would increase capacity to smelt 600,000 metric tons of copper concentrate and refine up to 450,000 tons of copper content per year, with medium-term increases possible, the firm said.

Grupo Mexico’s transport division (GMXT) is planning $472.7 million in investments this year. No funds were identified as being earmarked for a bid for Argentine rail lines, with a source telling Reuters GMXT planned to invest $3 billion in if it won the bid.

The conglomerate’s infrastructure division was dinged by halted production at oil rigs operated by state-run producer Pemex, with an executive saying it was in talks with the firm and expected work to restart soon.

(By Kylie Madry; Editing by Iñigo Alexander)