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DESCRIPTION OF THE BUSINESS: | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2020
DESCRIPTION OF THE BUSINESS: |
DESCRIPTION OF THE BUSINESS: | NOTE 1—DESCRIPTION OF THE BUSINESS: ​ The Company is a majority-owned, indirect subsidiary of Grupo Mexico S.A.B. de C.V. (“Grupo Mexico”). At December 31, 2020, Grupo Mexico through its wholly-owned subsidiary Americas Mining Corporation (“AMC”) owned 88.9% of the Company’s capital stock. The consolidated financial statements presented herein consist of the accounts of Southern Copper Corporation ("SCC", "Southern Copper" or the “Company”), a Delaware corporation, and its subsidiaries. The Company is an integrated producer of copper and other minerals, and operates mining, smelting and refining facilities in Peru and Mexico. The Company conducts its primary operations in Peru through a registered branch (the "Peruvian Branch" or “Branch” or “SPCC Peru Branch”). The Peruvian Branch is not a corporation separate from the Company. The Company's Mexican operations are conducted through subsidiaries. The Company also conducts exploration activities in Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru. ​ COVID – 19 PANDEMIC ​ Since the World Health Organization (“WHO”) declared the COVID-19 virus outbreak as a global pandemic, all the countries where the Company operates and conducts exploration activities, as well as the countries where its main customers and suppliers are located, have published health and safety rules and restrictions on individuals and business activities. ​ As of December 31, 2020, the Company‘s production facilities in Mexico and Peru were working at approximately 98% of their production capacity. The Company has developed a rigorous COVID-19 emergency protocol. ​ The Company has restarted exploration activities at all of its locations, except in Chile due to local restrictions. The Company restarted exploration activities in Ecuador and Argentina in September 2020 and at the end of the second quarter of 2020, respectively. ​ The financial reporting process and the information required to prepare the Company’s financial statements suffered no interruption and the financial statements were prepared without restrictions or difficulties. ​ SCC´s Corporate Crisis Committee as well as its Crisis Committees in Mexico and Peru continue to closely monitor the impact of the pandemic and to analyze and quickly resolve any issues that may arise. As of December 31, 2020, there were no major delays in the supply of materials and services critical for the operations and sales. Also, shipments and collections have registered no known major delays. ​ After completing the first stage of its capital programs at Buenavista in Mexico and Toquepala in Peru, the Company currently does not have major capital expenditures commitments (see Note 13 - Commitments and Contingencies). The Company paid the first tranche of its 2010 bonds of $400 million on April 15, 2020. The Company has no other major debt maturity until 2022. ​ The Company performed a qualitative analysis and as of December 31, 2020 identified no indicators of impairment. As the Company reported, the results of its impairment sensitivity analysis showed projected discounted cash flows in excess of the carrying amounts of long-lived assets by margins ranging from 1.3 to 4.3 times such carrying amount. This analysis included a stress test using a copper price assumption of $2.00 per pound and a molybdenum price assumption of $4.00 per pound. ​ ​

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- Definition The entire disclosure for the nature of an entity's business, major products or services, principal markets including location, and the relative importance of its operations in each business and the basis for the determination, including but not limited to, assets, revenues, or earnings. For an entity that has not commenced principal operations, disclosures about the risks and uncertainties related to the activities in which the entity is currently engaged and an understanding of what those activities are being directed toward. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 275 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (a) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=99393423&loc=d3e5967-108592 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 275 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/topic&trid=2134479 + Details
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