Grupo Mexico Demands ASARCO's Independent Board Properly Consider Its Full Payment Plan

Business Wire, May 21, 2008

Despite Submitting Sponsored Reorganization Plan for ASARCO, Grupo Mexico Has Repeatedly Been Denied Information Needed to Fairly Value the Company's Assets and Liabilities

MEXICO CITY -- Grupo Mexico SAB de CV (GMexico) said today that despite having submitted a sponsored reorganization plan to ASARCO LLC'S independent Board last month, it has repeatedly been denied the additional information needed to refine its proposal and ensure that it fully values ASARCO's assets and liabilities. The Company believes that the refusal to provide information is further evidence that ASARCO's independent Board and its financial advisor, Lehman Brothers, have no intention of taking Grupo Mexico's plan seriously despite the fact that it has guaranteed all of ASARCO's creditors will be paid in full or left unimpaired.

Grupo Mexico believes the reluctance of ASARCO and Lehman Brothers to provide information underscores the concerted effort during the past several months to keep Grupo Mexico from reestablishing control of ASARCO. It also believes it is further evidence that ASARCO intends to pursue its own agenda of selling the company's assets over the objections of Grupo Mexico, which is the only party that offered to fund a 100-percent payment plan to make the company's creditors whole. Specifically, Grupo Mexico and Americas Mining Corporation ("AMC") have offered to backstop a stand-alone plan of reorganization which will pay all allowed claims of ASARCO's creditors in full, in cash, or otherwise leave such allowed claims unimpaired - without a break-up fee.

Among the information it has requested, but not received, includes: details on the anticipated amount of allowed claims related to the company's environmental liabilities; information about other bids for the company's assets that Lehman Brothers said have been received; and details about how the auction process will proceed.

Grupo Mexico insists it needs the information to ensure that its Plan addresses all claims properly. Instead of providing the requested information, it appears to be the intention of ASARCO's Board and Lehman Brothers to settle environmental and asbestos claims through a questionable process. Instead of determining or estimating the amount of environmental and asbestos claims prior to any sale, the sale process being conducted by ASARCO seems to be an attempt to determine the amount of the claims based on the highest bid. The higher the bid, the higher the claims. Group Mexico believes the claims should be determined on their own merit rather than allowing claims to be inflated by today's high commodity price for copper.

Grupo Mexico today calls on the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas and the Examiner overseeing the auction process to order ASARCO and Lehman Brothers to provide the information and transparency requested. Grupo Mexico also intends to question the ASARCO Board of Directors regarding the lack of information as part of a scheduled deposition later this month. Grupo Mexico is prepared to pursue all legal means necessary to ensure a just process to take ASARCO out of Chapter 11, once all claims are legally estimated.