June 2008 -- The first quarter of 2008 was a good one for Southern Copper Corp., one of the world's largest
integrated copper producers. Net earnings for the fiscal period were $565 million, an increase
of 2.4% over the comparable quarter of 2007 and 81.7% higher than the fourth quarter of 2007.
Net sales for the quarter, meanwhile, were up by 10.4% over the same quarter in 2007, rising to
$140.9 million. This increase was credited to higher metal prices and an increase in production
of molybdenum over the first quarter of 2007.
According to Oscar Gonzalez Rocha, CEO, capital investment efforts in the first quarter focused
on the company's $2.1 billion investment program in its Peruvian operations. The program "is
expected to permit us to increase our copper production by 270,000 tons per year by 2011, an
increase of 39% over the current production capacity," he said in the company's April 25, 2008,
quarterly statement.
In addition, Southern Copper Corp. plans to invest $1.2 billion in its Los Chancas project, a
copper-molybdenum property in the southern part of Peru. The company expects this project will
increase its annual copper production by 80,000 tons by 2013.
