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SEGMENT AND RELATED INFORMATION: (Details 4) lb in Millions, $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) lb $ / lb	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)
Provisionally priced sales
Provisional price sales adjustment amounts included in net sales	$ 6.1	$ 26.1
Copper
Provisionally priced sales
Provisional price sales adjustment amounts included in accounts receivable	$ 6.0	9.6
Copper | January through March 2016
Provisionally priced sales
Sales volume (in million lbs.) | lb	164.3
Provisional price | $ / lb	2.136
Molybdenum
Provisionally priced sales
Provisional price sales adjustment amounts included in accounts receivable	$ 0.1	$ 16.5
Molybdenum | January through April 2016
Provisionally priced sales
Sales volume (in million lbs.) | lb	12.1
Provisional price | $ / lb	5.15

X

- Definition

Aggregate notional amount of provisionally priced sales agreements with notional amounts expressed in nonmonetary units.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	scco_
Data Type:	num:massItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

X

- Definition

The per unit price of provisionally priced sales agreements.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	scco_
Data Type:	us-types:perUnitItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

X

- Definition

Represents the provisional sales price adjustment amounts included in net sales.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	scco_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Represents the provisional sales price adjustment amounts included in accounts receivable.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	scco_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

X

- References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	scco_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
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X

- Details

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Namespace Prefix:
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Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

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Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_ProductOrServiceAxis=scco_MolybdenumMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

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Namespace Prefix:
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Balance Type:
Period Type: