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CONCENTRATION OF RISK: | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2011
CONCENTRATION OF RISK: |
CONCENTRATION OF RISK: |
NOTE 18-CONCENTRATION OF RISK: The Company operates four open-pit copper mines, five underground poly-metallic mines, two smelters and eight refineries in Peru and Mexico and substantially all of its assets are located in these countries. There can be no assurances that the Company’s operations and assets that are subject to the jurisdiction of the governments of Peru and Mexico will not be adversely affected by future actions of such governments. Much of the Company’s products are exported from Peru and Mexico to customers principally in the United States, Europe, Asia and South America. Financial instruments, which potentially subject the Company to a concentration of credit risk, consist primarily of cash and cash equivalents, short-term investments and trade accounts receivable. The Company invests or maintains available cash with various banks, principally in the United States, Mexico, Europe and Peru, or in commercial papers of highly-rated companies. As part of its cash management process, the Company regularly monitors the relative credit standing of these institutions. At December 31, 2011, SCC had invested its cash and cash equivalents as follows:
Country |  | % of total cash (1) |  | % invested in one institution |
United States |  | 86.9 | % | 25.2 | %
Peru |  | 9.1 | % | 84.3 | %
Mexico |  | 4.0 | % | 96.1 | %
(1) 97.7% of the Company’s cash is in US dollars. During the normal course of business, the Company provides credit to its customers. Although the receivables resulting from these transactions are not collateralized, the Company has not experienced significant problems with the collection of receivables. The Company is exposed to credit loss in cases where the financial institutions with which it has entered into derivative transactions (commodity, foreign exchange and currency/interest rate swaps) are unable to pay when they owe funds as a result of protection agreements with them. To minimize the risk of such losses, the Company only uses highly-rated financial institutions that meet certain requirements. The Company also periodically reviews the creditworthiness of these institutions to ensure that they are maintaining their ratings. The Company does not anticipate that any of the financial institutions will default on their obligations. The Company’s largest customers as percentage of accounts receivable and total sales were as follows:
|  | 2011 |  | 2010 |  | 2009 |
Accounts receivable trade as of December 31, |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Five largest customers |  | 35.9 | % | 49.1 | % | 37.4 | %
Largest customer |  | 10.8 | % | 16.3 | % | 11.2 | %
Total sales in year |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Five largest customers |  | 28.7 | % | 29.6 | % | 35.1 | %
Largest customer |  | 7.3 | % | 9.9 | % | 8.5 | %

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- Definition The entire disclosure for any concentrations existing at the date of the financial statements that make an entity vulnerable to a reasonably possible, near-term, severe impact. This disclosure informs financial statement users about the general nature of the risk associated with the concentration, and may indicate the percentage of concentration risk as of the balance sheet date. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 275 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 20 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6927468&loc=d3e6404-108592 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher AICPA -Name Statement of Position (SOP) -Number 94-6 -Paragraph 21, 22, 24 -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 825 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 21 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6947722&loc=d3e13537-108611 Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS) -Number 107 -Paragraph 15A -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 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 275 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 21 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6927468&loc=d3e6442-108592 Reference 6: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 825 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 20 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6947722&loc=d3e13531-108611 Reference 7: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 275 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 16 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6927468&loc=d3e6327-108592 Reference 8: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 275 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 18 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6927468&loc=d3e6351-108592 + Details
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