Southern Copper raises capital spending for 2010

* Company says confident will move forward on projects

* Lifts 2009 copper view to 500,000 tonnes

* Says still no set restart date for strike-hit Cananea

LIMA, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Southern Copper Corp (PCU.N) (SPC.LM) said on Friday it plans to lift its 2010 capital budget to $600 million, sounding confident about cash generation and betting the worst of the global crisis is over.

The company, one of the world's largest copper producers, had cut its capital and exploration budget this year to around $450 million as metals prices plummeted in late 2008.

They have since strengthened, and mining companies such as Southern are positioning for the next upswing in prices.

"The company thinks that there is no problem to go ahead with our projects," Raul Jacob, the company's manager of financial planning and investor relations, said on a conference call.

Among projects moving forward are the Toquepala expansion and the Tia Maria development in southern Peru.

The company has approved a $934 million investment program for Tia Maria, and has so far spent about $250 million. It has spent some $75 million on Toquepala.

Also on Friday, Southern Copper raised its 2009 guidance for copper to 500,000 tonnes sold, from a prior forecast of 490,000 tonnes.

It expects to produce 18,000 tonnes molybdenum, 105,000 tonnes of zinc and 17 million ounces of silver this year.

About its 2010 forecast, the company said it did not expect a reduction from 2009 levels, but did not provide further guidance.

"Regarding the U.S. and European economies, we believe the worst of the recession has passed and we expect a much better performance in the fourth quarter of this year as well as in 2010," Southern Copper's Chief Financial Officer Genaro Guerrero said on the same call with investors.

Late on Thursday, the company posted a third-quarter net profit of $312.5 million, down 25 percent from the same period in 2008. [ID:nN2250402]

CANANEA RESTART

Southern Copper, a unit of Grupo Mexico (GMEXICOB.MX), operates the giant Cananea mine in Mexico, which has been hit by a strike for some two years and that historically has produced roughly 20 percent of the company's copper output.