Bolivia miners end protest at Glencore mine

Bolivian miners staged a two-day protest at Glencore's Sinchi Wayra zinc-tin operation to pressure for the restart of one of its suspended units.

Workers at the operation's Bolívar unit met with company officials after holding demonstrations in the city of Oruro, state mining company Comibol said. Bolívar, which has been halted for the past two months, will be restarted gradually, according to the company, a JV partner with Glencore in Sinchi Wayra.

"We made a report on the meeting to our comrades, who are calmer now," Bolívar union general secretary Bernardino Mamani said in a statement. "We hope this accord is met and that operations return to normal." The reason for the suspension of operations was not provided.

Union and company officials have scheduled further meetings in October, Mamani said. Miners staged a strike at the same unit last year.

Glencore's press office did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment.

AMAYAPAMPA

In other mining news, Comibol said work is moving ahead on upgrades at its Amayapampa gold mine, including a new 200t/d concentrator plant and two hammer mills.

Comibol, which took over the mine last year from Singapore's LionGold, is also negotiating additional power supply for the mine with state electric utility Ende, the company said in a separate statement.

The mine, which was previously operated by Da Capo Resources, Vista Gold and Minera Nueva Vista, has reserves of 1.79Moz gold and may process up to 300t/d of ore, according to Comibol.

Comibol, which has had technical problems at both its Karachipampa and Vinto smelters over the past year, seeks to tap into a rebound in metals prices that helped boost exports by 7% to US$3.672bn in the first half.

Refined gold exports rose 5.7% to US$400mn through June, according to the national statistics office. Government officials in both Peru and Bolivia admit Peruvian illegal gold miners are smuggling their output through Bolivia following a government crackdown.

Private investment has plummeted in Bolivia since President Evo Morales, who lost a bid last year to extend his decade long rule, seized mining operations from companies including Glencore, South American Silver and Jindal Steel since first taking office in 2006.