Information related to significant accounting policies of the reporting entity.

No definition available.

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Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The increase (decrease) during the period in the carrying amount of inventory pertaining to change in capitalized material.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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

- Definition

The increase (decrease) during the period in the carrying amount of inventory pertaining to change in inventory consumption.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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

- Definition

Represents the approximate percentage of increase in the total reserves at a property before the work qualifies as a major expansion of reserves.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	scco_MineDevelopmentTotalReserveIncreaseToQualifyAsMajorExpansion
Namespace Prefix:	scco_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Represents the number of open-pit copper mining properties.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	scco_NumberOfOpenPitCopperMiningProperties
Namespace Prefix:	scco_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Represents the number of reportable segments of the entity.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	scco_NumberOfReportableSegment
Namespace Prefix:	scco_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Represents the number of underground poly metal mining properties.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	scco_NumberOfUndergroundPolyMetalMiningProperties
Namespace Prefix:	scco_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Represents the number of years of average prices for copper and molybdenum used for impairment analysis.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	scco_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Represents the price per pound of copper considered to determine the average price used for the valuation of ore reserves.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	scco_OreReservesCopperPriceConsideredToDetermineAveragePrice
Namespace Prefix:	scco_
Data Type:	srt-types:perUnitItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Represents the number of years preceding periods considered for the calculation of average metal prices used to determine the amortization of mine development and intangible assets.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	scco_OreReservesEstimatesPrecedingPeriodsConsideredForCalculationOfAverageMetalPrice
Namespace Prefix:	scco_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The percentage of metal production sold under annual or longer-term contracts.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	scco_PercentageOfMetalProductionSoldUnderAnnualOrLongerTermContracts
Namespace Prefix:	scco_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Represents the information relating to quantity of minerals during the period.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	scco_QuantityOfMinerals
Namespace Prefix:	scco_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Represents the number of months subsequent to shipping in which customer contracts allow for pricing on certain products.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	scco_RevenueRecognitionNumberOfMonthsSubsequentToShippingForPricingOfCertainContracts
Namespace Prefix:	scco_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The aggregate amount of write-downs for impairments recognized during the period for long lived assets held for use (including those held for disposal by means other than sale).

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 28
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=121586364&loc=d3e3602-108585

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 360
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109226691&loc=d3e2921-110230

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-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 360
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 4
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109226348&loc=d3e2420-110228

+ Details

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Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Useful life of long lived, physical assets used in the normal conduct of business and not intended for resale, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents the reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days. Examples include, but not limited to, land, buildings, machinery and equipment, office equipment, furniture and fixtures, and computer equipment.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
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.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_SegmentReportingInformationLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

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Namespace Prefix:
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- Details

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Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
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- Details

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

- Details

Name:	srt_ProductOrServiceAxis=scco_SulfuricAcidMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
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- Details

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- Details

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Data Type:	na
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- Details

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Data Type:	na
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SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Details) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2020 USD ($) item t segment $ / lb	Dec. 31, 2019 $ / lb	Dec. 31, 2018 $ / lb
Financial information related to segments
Decrease in inventory capitalized material \| $	$ 196.4
Increase in inventory consumption \| $	$ 29.3
Significant Accounting Policies
Increase in total reserves at a property to qualify as a major expansion (as a percent)	10.00%
Period considered for calculation of average metal price	3 years
Current price of copper (in dollars per pound) \| $ / lb	2.816	2.818	2.642
Impairment in the carrying value of long-term assets \| $	$ 0.0
Number of years of average prices for copper and molybdenum used for impairment analysis	3 years
Number of reportable segments \| segment	3
Copper concentrates
Significant Accounting Policies
Long-term contracts with promises to deliver mineral	208,000
Copper cathodes
Significant Accounting Policies
Long-term contracts with promises to deliver mineral	48,000
Molybdenum concentrates
Significant Accounting Policies
Long-term contracts with promises to deliver mineral	43,329
Sulfuric acid
Significant Accounting Policies
Long-term contracts with promises to deliver mineral	325,700
Minimum
Financial information related to segments
Estimated useful lives of buildings and equipment	2 years
Significant Accounting Policies
Percentage of metal production sold under annual or longer-term contracts	80.00%
Maximum
Financial information related to segments
Maximum period after shipping within which pricing is based by customer contracts in most cases	3 months
Estimated useful lives of buildings and equipment	50 years
Significant Accounting Policies
Percentage of metal production sold under annual or longer-term contracts	90.00%
Peruvian Operations
Financial information related to segments
Number of open-pit copper mines \| item	2
Mexican IMMSA Unit
Financial information related to segments
Number of underground poly metal mines \| item	5