page_title: Peñoles
section_title: Grupo Minas-Químicos
hierarchical_section_title: Peñoles / Grupo Minas-Químicos
caption_attribution_description: Cuprite-tenorite-chrysocolla (polished cut slice, 10.4 cm across at its widest) from the Paleocene of Mexico. This is copper oxide rock from Mexico's Milpillas Copper Mine. It contains reddish cuprite (Cu2O - copper oxide), black tenorite (CuO - copper oxide), and slightly bluish-green chrysocolla ((Cu,Al)2H2Si2O5(OH)4·nH2O - hydrous copper aluminum hydroxy-silicate). The mine targets the Milpillas Orebody, a partially oxidized "porphyry copper" deposit. The nonoxidized portions of the deposit have chalcopyrite and bornite disseminated in breccias and stockwork veins, capped by a supergene-enriched blanket of chalcocite. The cuprite-tenorite-chrysocolla only occurs in the oxidized portions of the chalcocite blanket. Geologic unit &amp; context &amp; age: Milpillas Orebody, Danian Stage, Early Paleocene (63.1 Ma), hosted mostly in rhyolite and porphyritic quartz monzonite stocks emanating from the Cuitaca-Tinaja Batholith (a Laramide Orogeny intrusive complex dating to 63.9 Ma) + Jurassic and Upper Cretaceous-Paleocene volcanics. Locality: Milpillas Mine, Rancho Milpillas, Cuitaca Graben (produced by crustal extension at 12 to 27 Ma; now covered with gravels &amp; alluvium), Cananea Mining District, 25 km northwest of Cananea, Santa Cruz Municipality, northern Sonora State, northwestern Mexico (31° 06' 25.47" North, 110° 25' 30.24" West).
context_page_description: Peñoles is a subsidiary company owned by Grupo BAL. Peñoles is the second largest Mexican mining company, the first Mexican producer of gold, zinc and lead and the world leader in silver production. Peñoles is a company with active mines within Mexico and with some prospection projects in South America. Holdings includes the Fresnillo Silver Mine / Mina Proaño, the Met-Mex Peñoles metallurgical complex and Química del Rey; a Chemical facility; three operations. Peñoles produces about 80,500,000 troy ounces of silver and 756,100 troy ounces of gold annually. Other metals that the company produces are zinc, lead, copper, bismuth, and cadmium.
  The main product of Peñoles is refined silver in the form of ingots and granulated silver which are 99.99% pure silver, this product is made in Torreón and from this location is exported all over the world.
  In 2012, the company was awarded with the Fray International Sustainability Award for its initiatives in sustainable development. They approach sustainability by achieving three dimensions: Economics, Ecology, and Ethics, and by consistently measuring and analyzing their environmental impact.
context_section_description: Unidad Fresnillo, the world richest silver mine located in Zacatecas
  Unidad Francisco I. Madero, a big zinc ore deposit also in Zacatecas
  Unidad Sabinas, located near the town of Sombrerete, Zacatecas
  Unidad La Ciénega, a gold mine located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Occidental
  Unidad La Herradura, a gold mine in association with the American mining company Newmont Mining Corporation and an open pit mine located in Sonora
  Unidad Bismark, located near the Mexican–American border
  Unidad Naica, a big lead ore deposit, located in the state of Chihuahua
  Unidad Tizapa, a lead and zinc mine located in central Mexico (Zacazonapan, State of Mexico near Valle de Bravo recreational complex)
  Química del Rey, production of sodium sulfate and magnesium oxide.
  Magnelec, production of special magnesite chemical compounds
caption: Oxide copper ore specimen from the  Milpillas mine, SON
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