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SEGMENT AND RELATED INFORMATION: - Provisional Sale (Details) lb in Millions, $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($) lb $ / lb	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)
Provisionally priced sales
Provisional price sales adjustment amounts included in net sales	$ (22.9)	$ (5.8)
Copper
Provisionally priced sales
Provisional price sales adjustment amounts included in accounts receivable	$ (8.3)	(6.2)
Copper | January through March 2018
Provisionally priced sales
Sales volume (in million lbs.) | lb	56.3
Provisional price | $ / lb	3.28
Molybdenum
Provisionally priced sales
Provisional price sales adjustment amounts included in accounts receivable	$ (14.6)	$ 0.4
Molybdenum | January through March 2018
Provisionally priced sales
Sales volume (in million lbs.) | lb	10.0
Provisional price | $ / lb	10.25

X

- Definition

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

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	scco_NonmonetaryNotionalAmountOfProvisionallyPricedSalesAgreements
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

Name:	scco_ProvisionalPriceOfSalesAgreementsPerUnit
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

Name:	scco_ProvisionalPriceSalesAdjustmentInNetSales
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

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

X

- References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	scco_ProvisionallyPricedSalesLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	scco_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Details

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

X

- Details

Name:	scco_SettlementMonthAxis=scco_SettlementInJanuaryThroughMarch2018Member
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: