Reuters reported that Mexican miner and railroad operator Grupo Mexico profit doubled in the Q2 boosted by higher metals prices and output from a key mine now up and running after a multi year strike.

The company, which has copper mines in Mexico, Peru and the US Southwest said that it earned USD 657 million in April through June this year up from USD 324 million in the same period in 2010.

Sales rose 38.7% to USD 2.7 billion in the quarter as the company mined more copper and sold it at higher prices. Copper this quarter was trading at levels around 50% above those seen in the Q2 last year with the benchmark contract CMCU3 hitting 3 month high of USD 9,895 per tonne in London.

Despite market volatility, the company said it was still positive on copper prices which will be bolstered by growing global demand for the metal and tight supplies. Revenues were helped by the resumption of copper production at the massive Cananea mine in northern Mexico which reopened last year after a court ruled against the national mining union to end 3 year strike.

Grupo Mexico renamed the historic pit, where labor unrest in the early 1900s helped spark the 1910 Mexican Revolution, Buenavista del Cobre. The plan is to invest USD 3.7 billion in an expansion plan there to more than double capacity to 450,000 tons.

(Sourced from Reuters)