194 195 cerro de pasco The greatest investment of the XXth century added-value products, such as cables of all kinds for the national and foreign industry, with a 45% stake in Industrias de Cobre S.A. - INDECO. All these companies were based in Peruvian territory. At that time, its only subsidiaries in other countries were the ownership of the Río Blanco copper mine, in Chile, and Circle Wire & Cable Corp., whose cable and wire plant was located in Maspeth, New York, and another for the rolling of copper and steel in Hicksville, in the same state. That is to say, at that time Peru was the centre of the company’s operations and its most attractive target for investments. Although in the sixties the corporation established a diversification policy without territorial limitations, as the pressure of the government and economic reforms began to take place in 1968, Cerro immediately shifted its attention to other parts of the world. For example, in the early 1970s, it began developing the Cerro Spar fluorine mine in Kentucky, United States, as well as some asbestos deposits near Kozani, in northern Greece. It also acquired a 24% stake in Northwest Iron Co., a joint venture that owned 50% of the Savage River mine in Tasmania, Australia. On U.S. soil, it invested in a small stake in Ranchers Exploration and Development Corporation, an exploration company with interests in New Mexico and Nevada. In addition, the company itself opened subsidiaries for the exploration of new deposits in Texas, Wyoming, Utah, Missouri, Tennessee and Arizona, as well as others in Canada such as Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg and Vancouver. Along the same lines, it reorganised the companies of its manufacturing group. In 1971 the Cerro & Cable Company (Cerrowire) –which, among others, destined its products to NASA’s Apollo project and nuclear plants such as Peach Bottom in Pennsylvania– increased its revenues by 149% compared to the previous year. That encouraged them to invest in the operation of a new plant in Mystic, Connecticut, and in the construction of another one for the manufacture of cables in Freehold, New Jersey. For its part, the Copper & Brass Company (Cerrobrass) also expanded the capacity of its plants in St. Louis and Cleveland to manufacture pipes for construction. The manufacturing of bronze and brass parts, bars, cables, aluminium and brass forgings, plus bismuth alloys for the construction and transportation industry were reinforced in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania and Newark, California, expanding their respective capabilities of production and product lines. However, the corporation’s boldest decision was to invest in companies totally removed from the mining and metallurgical sector. In 1970, Cerro de Pasco entered the real estate and construction sector through Leadership Housing Systems Inc., after the acquisition of a company specialised in the creation of residential neighbourhoods. In turn, Leadership had a business in advertising and sales, as well as another in financing, insurance and mortgages in states such as Florida, Texas, Hawaii and California. In this area, it also formed the Richmar Development Corporation, based in Stamford, Connecticut, specializing in the construction of shopping centres, industrial parks, and homes in New York, Connecticut, and Las Vegas. These acquisitions were consistent with Cerro’s Atlantic Cement Company operation in partnership with the Newmont Mining Corporation. On the other hand, in 1972 it acquired the Illinois-California Express, a freight transport company that operated from Chicago to the western United States and which, according to the company’s 1974 Annual Report, was “part of our program of diversification which reduces the dependence of the company on the profits of its operations in Peru”. At the other extreme, for the first time and after nearly 70 years, the activities of the Cerro de Pasco national mining division did not yield profits. This was in part due to the cost overruns contemplated in the new regulations and the drop in the price of non-ferrous metals. Moreover, it was also because of the strikes. Only in 1971 thirty-five took place in its various units. That same SINCE THE CONFLICT WITH THE STATE BEGAN, THE CORPORATION SLOWED DOWN THE PACE OF ITS INVESTMENTS IN PERU DUE TO THE THREAT OF LOSING ITS ASSETS AND THEREFORE, THAT OF ITS SHAREHOLDERS.
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