La Caridad Copper Mine

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La Caridad Copper Mine is an operating open pit mine in Mexico. It mainly produces copper and molybdenum.

La Caridad, located in northeastern Sonora, Mexico, is a recently discovered major porphyry copper deposit. As presently developed, this important orebody has a proven reserve in excess of 600 million metric tons, averaging 0.8 percent copper (including molybdenum as copper equivalent). The deposit was discovered in 1967 by the Mexican Government's Consejo de Recursos Naturales No Renovables. In 1968, an exploration contract was awarded to ASARCO Mexicana, which subsequently carried out an extensive exploration program.The La Caridad porphyry copper deposit occurs exclusively in felsic to intermediate intrusive igneous rocks and associated breccias. Host rocks include diorite and granodiorite. These rocks are intruded by a quartz monzonite porphyry stock and by numerous breccia masses which contain fragments of all the older rock types.

June 9, 2006:

Southern Copper announced that it closed its copper mine at La Caridad and its lime plant at Agua Prieta, both located in the state of Sonora in Mexico. In a statement, the company said it took this step due to a continued strike and disruption of operations, and "the issues that need to be resolved are internal union issues on a national level which have nothing to do with contractual labor relations between the company and its workers."