Mexican miner Grupo Mexico announced on Wednesday production output at its Buenavista del Cobre copper mine will hit 475,000 tonnes per year by 2015. The figure is a 6 per cent growth from estimates made earlier in April.

"The mine has come back in great form," Garcia de Quevedo said at a briefing in Mexico City.

The Buenavista mine, located near the U.S.-Mexico border, reopened lin 2010 after a court ruling ended a three-year-long strike staged by the national mining union. The strike, which began in July 2007, cost Grupo Mexico an estimated 530,000 tonnes of lost production, equivalent to lost revenue of $3.5 billion.

The latest production output figure, according to Mr de Quevedo, is likewise much more than double the current annual output.

In April, Grupo Mexico said production at the Buenavista mine grew to 450,000 tonnes per year. The mine produced 49,860 tonnes in the third quarter, with current annual output placed at about 188,000 tonnes.

Grupo Mexico earlier said it expects to spend $100 million or more to repair the damages at the mine brought about by the three-year work stoppage.

Buenavista is a massive open pit copper mine in northern Mexico near the U.S. border that holds copper reserves good for at least 70 years.

Grupo Mexico runs copper mines in Mexico, Peru and the southwestern United States, and cargo train lines across Mexico.