Southern Copper SCCO.N, SPCCPI1.LM is owned by Grupo Mexico GMEXICOB.MX and is seeking to develop Los Chancas, located in the southern Apurimac region, with an estimated investment of $2.6 billion. In its quarterly report, the company said that part of its Los Chancas project "continues to be occupied by illegal miners" as of the end of June, 75 of whom had irregularly registered in a state mining formalization program. Small-scale mining, fueled by high metal prices and a disorganized government permitting system, is a growing problem for companies in Peru, the world's second-largest copper producer.