| Asarco was organized in 1899 as American Smelting and Refining Company. The current name was adopted in 1975. Originally a consolidation of a number of lead-silver smelting companies, the Company has evolved over the years into an integrated producer of copper, as well as a producer of other metals. Grupo Mexico S.A. de C.V. acquired Asarco's common stock in November 1999 and Asarco now operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Grupo Mexico's Americas Mining Corporation.
The Company is a fully integrated miner, smelter and refiner of copper in the United States and in Peru. Asarco's domestic mines include the Mission and the Ray open-pit mines, both in Arizona, and a 49.9% interest in the open-pit mine of Montana Resources in Butte, which also is a significant producer of molybdenum. Asarco also produces solvent extraction/electrowon refined copper cathodes at the Ray mine and at its Silver Bell mine in Arizona. Asarco operates a copper smelter in Hayden, Arizona, which produces anodes that are refined at the Company's Amarillo Copper Refinery in Texas.
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