Reuters reported that Mexican copper miner and railroad operator Grupo Mexico reported Q3 net profit of USD 693 million up from the same quarter last year on increased production at its largest mine.

According to a statement filed to the Mexican Stock Exchange, in the July to September period last year, the company earned USD 399 million.

Grupo Mexico which has copper mines in Mexico, Peru and the US Southwest, said that revenues in the period were USD 2.7 billion up 32% from the Q3 of 2010. A nearly 15% rise in copper production by the mining division coupled with higher copper prices helped boost sales.

Grupo Mexico's massive Cananea mine near the US Mexico border reopened last year after a court ended 3 year long strike by the national mining union. The historic pit where labor unrest in the early 1900s helped spark the 1910 Mexican Revolution has been renamed Buenavista del Cobre.

Earlier this month a Delaware court ordered Grupo Mexico to pay USD 1.263 billion to its subsidiary Southern Copper Corp over a 2004 merger deal that went sour.

Grupo Mexico said that it will appeal the decision at Delaware's supreme court. Even if Grupo Mexico is forced to pay, the economic impact would be blunted by the fact that it controls 80% of Southern Copper.

(Sourced from Reuters)