Represents the number of former employees who filed the complaint seeking the delivery of a substantial number of its labor shares (acciones laborales) plus dividends on such shares.

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- Definition

Represents the number of widows of miners, who perished in the 2006 Pasta de Conchos accident, that filed a complaint for damages.

+ Details

Name:	scco_LossContingencyNumberOfWidowsComplaintFiled
Namespace Prefix:	scco
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Represents the purchase price of shares paid to the plaintiff.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	scco
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Represents the percentage of issued labor shares exchanged for common stock of the company.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	scco
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Represents the percentage of remaining issued labor shares not yet exchanged for the common stock of the company, included in balance sheet under the caption, non-controlling interest.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	scco
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Represents the percentage of pre-tax profit provided to mine workers in statutory participation enacted by the law.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	scco
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Represents the percentage of pre-tax profit provided to mine workers in cash in statutory participation enacted by the law.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	scco
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Represents the percentage of pre-tax profit provided to mine workers in equity interest of the enterprise in statutory participation enacted by the law.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	scco
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Represents the portion of pre-tax profit provided to mine workers as equity pursuant to government legislation.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	scco
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ Details

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Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
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- Definition

Describes the form and magnitude of the award the plaintiff seeks in the legal matter, which may include an unspecified amount of money.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 450

-SubTopic 20

-Section 50

-Paragraph 9

-Subparagraph (a)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6952336&loc=d3e14557-108349

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)

-Number 5

-Paragraph 9, 10, 11, 12

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 450

-SubTopic 20

-Section 50

-Paragraph 1

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6952336&loc=d3e14326-108349

Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 450

-SubTopic 20

-Section 50

-Paragraph 4

-Subparagraph (a)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6952336&loc=d3e14435-108349

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COMMITTMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES: (Details 2) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended			1 Months Ended		9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 1992 Peruvian operations.	Dec. 31, 1978 Peruvian operations.	Dec. 31, 1971 Peruvian operations.	May 31, 2011 Peruvian operations. Garcia Ataucuri and Others against SCC's Peruvian Branch employee	Apr. 30, 1996 Peruvian operations. Garcia Ataucuri and Others against SCC's Peruvian Branch employee	Sep. 30, 2011 Peruvian operations. Garcia Ataucuri and Others against SCC's Peruvian Branch	Dec. 31, 1995 Peruvian operations. Garcia Ataucuri and Others against SCC's Peruvian Branch	Aug. 31, 2009 Peruvian operations. Exploraciones de Concesiones Metalicas S.A.C. ("Excomet")	Sep. 30, 2011 Peruvian operations. Garcia Ataucuri litigation	Feb. 19, 2010 Mexican operations. Pasta de Conchos Accident person
Litigation matter
Number of widows of miners who filed a complaint										3
Number of former employees who filed the complaint				216	800
Statutory participation of mine workers in pre-tax profit (as a percent)	8.00%		10.00%
Statutory participation of mine workers in pre-tax profit paid in cash (as a percent)	100.00%	4.00%	40.00%
Statutory participation of mine workers in pre-tax profit received as equity interest of enterprise (as a percent)			60.00%
Percentage of pre-tax profits delivered as "labor shares" (as a percent)		5.50%
Percentage of issued labor shares exchanged for common stock (as a percent)							80.80%
Percentage of issued labor shares pending to be exchanged for common stock (as a percent)						0.71%
Damages sought by the plaintiff									38,763,806.80 "labor shares" (acciones laborales), now "investment shares" (acciones de inversion) (or nuevos soles ("S/.") 3,876,380,679.56), plus dividends
Purchase price of shares paid to former stockholders								$ 2