Peñoles
Encyclopedia
Peñoles based in Mexico City, Mexico, is a subsidiary company 100 percent Mexican and owned by the private Grupo Bal. Peñoles is the second largest Mexican mining company, the first Mexican producer of gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

, zinc
Zinc
Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...

 and lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...

 and the world leader in silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...

 production. Peñoles is a company with active mines within Mexico and with some prospection projects in South America. Holdings includes the Fresnillo
Fresnillo
Fresnillo /fres'nijo/ , founded in 1554 by Francisco de Ibarra, is the second largest city in Zacatecas state, north central Mexico...

 Silver Mine / Mina Proaño
Mina Proaño
Mina Proaño an underground silver mine located in central Mexico, is one of the world's largest and most profitable silver mines. The mine is located just outside the city of Fresnillo, Zacatecas; as a result the mine is also known as Mina Fresnillo. The mining operation is run by Peñoles, a...

, the Met-Mex Peñoles
Met-Mex Peñoles
Met-Mex Peñoles is a large metallurgical and chemical company located in Torreón. This industrial site processes the majority of the zinc and lead mineral ores mined in Mexico and some other countries....

 metallurgical complex and Química del Rey; a Chemical facility; three operations. Peñoles produces about 80,500,000 troy ounces (2,500,000 kg) of silver and 756,100 troy ounces (23,520 kg) of gold annually. Other metals that the company produces are zinc
Zinc
Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...

, lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...

, copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...

, bismuth
Bismuth
Bismuth is a chemical element with symbol Bi and atomic number 83. Bismuth, a trivalent poor metal, chemically resembles arsenic and antimony. Elemental bismuth may occur naturally uncombined, although its sulfide and oxide form important commercial ores. The free element is 86% as dense as lead...

, and cadmium
Cadmium
Cadmium is a chemical element with the symbol Cd and atomic number 48. This soft, bluish-white metal is chemically similar to the two other stable metals in group 12, zinc and mercury. Similar to zinc, it prefers oxidation state +2 in most of its compounds and similar to mercury it shows a low...

.

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
Torreón
Torreón is a city and seat of the surrounding municipality of the same name in the Mexican state of Coahuila. As of 2010, the city's population was 608,836 with 639,629 in the municipality. The metropolitan population, including Matamoros, Coahuila, and Gómez Palacio and Lerdo in adjacent Durango,...

 (northern Mexico) and from this location is exported all over the world.

History

Peñoles history begins in 1887, with the mining concession of certain mines located within the Sierra de Peñoles in the state of Durango
Durango
Durango officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Durango is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is located in Northwest Mexico. With a population of 1,632,934, it has Mexico's second-lowest population density, after Baja...

 and the foundation of the Compañía Minera de Peñoles under the regime of President Porfirio Díaz
Porfirio Díaz
José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori was a Mexican-American War volunteer and French intervention hero, an accomplished general and the President of Mexico continuously from 1876 to 1911, with the exception of a brief term in 1876 when he left Juan N...

.

From 1890 to 1960 the company suffered several mergers, fusions and acquisitions with others mining companies. During this time the company was owned by different shareholders, among them some from the United Kingdom, United States and Germany.

During the decade of 1960 to 1970 the Mexican mining industry was "mexicanized" and therefore Mr. Raúl Bailleres
Raúl Baillères
Raúl Baillères created a business empire in Mexico. He founded the "Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México" on March 29, 1946....

 acquired the majority of the company shares, after that the company received the name of Industrias Peñoles.

Divisions

Peñoles has three mining related divisions and a branch created for other business. They are located mainly in northern México.
  • Grupo Metalúrgico, located mainly in Torreón
    Torreón
    Torreón is a city and seat of the surrounding municipality of the same name in the Mexican state of Coahuila. As of 2010, the city's population was 608,836 with 639,629 in the municipality. The metropolitan population, including Matamoros, Coahuila, and Gómez Palacio and Lerdo in adjacent Durango,...

  • Grupo Minas-Químicos, scattered along northern Mexico
  • Grupo Exploración, with several geological prospects all over the country and in South America
  • Grupo Infraestructura, with a thermoelectric power
    Thermoelectric power
    Thermoelectric power can refer to two things:# Electrical power generated from a heat source, such as burning fossil fuel-coal,oils, indirectly through devices like steam turbines....

     facility and an important sharing in a drinking water service company.
  • The company is also the controlling shareholder of Linea Coahuila Durango
    Linea Coahuila Durango
    The Línea Coahuila Durango is a short-line railroad company operating between the states of Durango and Coahuila in Mexico. It was created as a freight railroad company when the Ferrocarriles Nacionales de Mexico was privatized between 1997 and 1998. It started operations on 27 April 1998...

    .

Grupo Metalúrgico

  • Met-Mex Peñoles, zinc refinery
    Refinery
    A refinery is a production facility composed of a group of chemical engineering unit processes and unit operations refining certain materials or converting raw material into products of value.-Types of refineries:Different types of refineries are as follows:...

     that uses an electrolysis
    Electrolysis
    In chemistry and manufacturing, electrolysis is a method of using a direct electric current to drive an otherwise non-spontaneous chemical reaction...

     process
  • Met-Mex Peñoles, lead-silver foundry
    Foundry
    A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal in a mold, and removing the mold material or casting after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals processed are aluminum and cast iron...

  • Met-Mex Peñoles, lead-silver smelter and refinery
  • Fertirey, sulphuric acid processor
  • Met-Mex Peñoles, metallurgical specialities (Bermejillo, Durango)
  • Aleazin, production of special alloys facility (zamak
    ZAMAK
    Zamak is a family of alloys with a base metal of zinc and alloying elements of aluminium, magnesium and copper. Zamak alloys are part of the zinc aluminium alloy family; they are distinguished from the other ZA alloys because of their constant 4% aluminium composition...

    )

Grupo Minas-Químicos

  • Unidad Fresnillo, the world richest silver mine located in Zacatecas
    Zacatecas
    Zacatecas officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Zacatecas is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 58 municipalities and its capital city is 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
    Sierra Madre Occidental
    The Sierra Madre Occidental is a mountain range in western Mexico.-Setting:The range runs north to south, from just south of the Sonora–Arizona border southeast through eastern Sonora, western Chihuahua, Sinaloa, Durango, Zacatecas, Nayarit, Jalisco, Aguascalientes to Guanajuato, where it joins...

  • 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 & zinc mine located in central Mexico (Zacazonapan, State of Mexico near Valle de Bravo
    Valle de Bravo
    Valle de Bravo is a town and municipality located in Mexico State, Mexico. It is located on the shore of Lake Avándaro, approximately 156 km southwest of Mexico City and west of Toluca on highways 15, 134 or 1...

     reacreational complex)
  • Química del Rey, production of sodium
    Sodium
    Sodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal and is a member of the alkali metals; its only stable isotope is 23Na. It is an abundant element that exists in numerous minerals, most commonly as sodium chloride...

     sulfate
    Sulfate
    In inorganic chemistry, a sulfate is a salt of sulfuric acid.-Chemical properties:...

     and magnesium
    Magnesium
    Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg, atomic number 12, and common oxidation number +2. It is an alkaline earth metal and the eighth most abundant element in the Earth's crust and ninth in the known universe as a whole...

     oxide
    Oxide
    An oxide is a chemical compound that contains at least one oxygen atom in its chemical formula. Metal oxides typically contain an anion of oxygen in the oxidation state of −2....

    .
  • Magnelec, production of special magnesite
    Magnesite
    Magnesite is magnesium carbonate, MgCO3. Iron substitutes for magnesium with a complete solution series with siderite, FeCO3. Calcium, manganese, cobalt, and nickel may also occur in small amounts...

     chemical compounds

Grupo Exploración

  • Milpillas Project, underground copper mine, located in the State of Sonora and with a future production of copper cathode
    Cathode
    A cathode is an electrode through which electric current flows out of a polarized electrical device. Mnemonic: CCD .Cathode polarity is not always negative...

    s (2006)

Grupo Infraestructura

  • TEP / Termoeléctrica Peñoles, a combined cycle thermoelectric power facility, focused in the own generation of electricity and located near Tamuin, San Luis Potosí.

  • Drinking water service, a joint venture with the French company Ondeo which is concentrated in several Mexican urban sites like Cancún
    Cancún
    Cancún is a city of international tourism development certified by the UNWTO . Located on the northeast coast of Quintana Roo in southern Mexico, more than 1,700 km from Mexico City, the Project began operations in 1974 as Integrally Planned Center, a pioneer of FONATUR Cancún is a city of...

     and México City
    Mexico City
    Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...

    .

External links

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