The San José mine is part of a broad geological formation, where there are several metasomatic iron deposits produced by hydrothermal replacement at various spots within the Sinaloa State.

ArcelorMittal holds mineral rights over 1,053 hectares which previously supported its El Volcan operations located approximately 68 kilometers northwest of the city of Obregon and 250 kilometers from the Guaymas port facility in the state of Sonora, Mexico. The El Volcan operations controlled all of the mineral rights and surface rights needed to mine and process iron ore, however the mine stopped production in April 2019 due to depletion of reserves. The El Volcan site is accessible by a 90-kilometer road from the city of Obregon, where the concentrator is located.

The exploitation of the San José mine began in 1946 and was handled by multiple owners until 2019, when ArcelorMittal secured a lease agreement and initiated mining and preconcentration in the same year. ArcelorMittal secured the mineral rights to the San José operations and has a land lease agreement for both the land and the San José facilities, which is in place for a period of 3 years from March 22, 2019 to March 21, 2022.

The San Jose facilities are located approximately 40 kilometers from Culiacán City, in the south of the Sinaloa State, being accessible by Highway 15, a paved 4-lane highway heading south toward Mazatlan. The mine is an open pit and exploitation, as well as crushing operations and all transport activities are performed by contractors. Electrical power is supplied by the regional grid.

The San Jose pre-concentration facilities at the mine include one primary crusher, one secondary crusher, a dry cobbling high-intensity magnetic pulley and one tertiary crusher. The El Volcan facilities that are continuing to be used with materials from the San Jose mine includes two ball mills on line.

The El Volcan facilities that are continuing to be used with materials from the San Jose mine include the concentration plant and port installations. The concentration plant includes a magnetic separation circuit, flotation systems, a belt conveyor filter and a disposal area for tails. The major port installations include a tippler for railroad cars, a conveyor, transfer towers and two ship loading systems. San Jose material is fed into the El Volcan plant and concentrate produced is transported by rail to the Pacific port of Guaymas and then shipped to the steel plant in Lázaro Cárdenas. The concentration facility uses electric power from the national grid.

The pre-concentrate produced is transported by truck to the Quila railroad station for loading and is then sent to the El Volcan Concentration plant owned by ArcelorMittal. The concentrate produced is then transported by rail to the Pacific port of Guaymas to be shipped to the steel plant in Lázaro Cardenas.