SCCO

Southern Copper Corporation

A mining company that digs, smelts, and refines copper and other metals from open-pit mines in Peru and Mexico, including the Buenavista, La Caridad, Toquepala, and Cuajone operations. It began in 1952 as Southern Peru Copper, a joint venture of American mining firms, and took its current name after merging with Minera México in 2005. Its Toquepala pit is so vast it has been photographed from the International Space Station, and workers there once discovered prehistoric rock paintings in nearby caves.