Grupo Mexico SAB, Mexico's largest mining company, may have to pay ``a couple hundred million dollars'' in damages after a U.S. judge ruled it harmed creditors of Asarco LLC, a company lawyer said.

    The estimate is a worst-case scenario, Alberto de la Parra, general counsel for Mexico City-based Grupo Mexico, said today on a conference call. It is unlikely that Grupo Mexico will owe that much, de la Parra said in a separate interview.

    Grupo Mexico's Americas Mining Corp. unit is liable for the ``actual fraudulent transfer'' of a stake in Southern Copper Corp. away from Asarco, a separate unit that is in bankruptcy, U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen said on Aug. 30. Hanen rejected Asarco's request for punitive damages that it says come to $8.18 billion, based on Southern's share price. The shares involved amounted to 54 percent of Southern at the time.

    ``This is a very good resolution for the company,'' de la Parra said.

    Asarco's court-appointed directors sued Tucson-based Americas Mining last year, seeking $8.18 billion in actual damages, almost five times Grupo Mexico's 2007 net income. Hanen asked both sides to submit views on how much Americas Mining should pay in damages, giving the parties a Sept. 15 deadline.

    Hanen ruled that Asarco gave up as much as $123.2 million because of the forced asset transfer. Asarco asked for $1.85 billion in lost dividends related to the Southern Copper shares, plus the value of the stock, Asarco lawyer G. Irvin Terrell said in an interview yesterday. Based on today's closing price, the disputed shares would be worth about $6.28 billion.

    Reasonable ValueHanen found that the 2003 sale was worth about $727.8 million, less than the $811.4 million to $853 million market value of the shares at the time. Although Americas Mining caused Asarco to lose money by selling the shares below their value, Asarco got a ``reasonably equivalent'' price, Hanen ruled.

    Grupo Mexico fell 37 centavos, or 2.3 percent, to 15.61 pesos in Mexican Stock Exchange trading. The shares have fallen 34 percent in the past year. Southern Copper, which runs mines in Mexico and Peru, fell 56 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $24.13 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.

    U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Richard Schmidt may decide by the end of November between competing reorganization plans presented by a unit of Vedanta Resources Plc, India's largest copper producer, and Grupo Mexico. Through its Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd. unit, Vedanta offered $2.6 billion to buy Asarco and has been designated the so-called stalking-horse bidder. Grupo Mexico has promised to pay all creditors in full.

    The lawsuit is Asarco LLC v. Americas Mining Corp., 1:07- cv-00018, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas (Brownsville). The bankruptcy case is In re Asarco LLC, 05- 21207, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of Texas (Corpus Christi).