Bolivia to provide financing for Colquiri zinc concentrator

Bolivia's central government said it will provide US$63mn in financing for a concentrator plant planned at one of state mining company Comibol's zinc-tin units.

Mining minister César Navarro met with Comibol and union officials at the Colquiri zinc mine to discuss the process to build the US$73mn, 2,000t/d plant, according to the ministry. Comibol will finance the remaining US$10mn, he said.

"The president asked me to speed up the timetable and for all of us to reach an agreement to be able to move forward with this project," Navarro said in a statement.

The government signed a contract of two year and a half for the project with German engineering firm Ziegel in October. The concentrator plant will be designed to achieve recovery rates of 80-85%, Navarro said.

Colquiri, which is located in La Paz department, produced 4,230t tin and 15,700t zinc in 2015, according to Comibol's website.

Restructuring

The ministry plans to meet with officials from Bolivia's mining workers federation to discuss the planned restructuring of Comibol after some miners rejected the proposal, Navarro said.

Workers earlier this month went on strike at Comibol's Huanuni tin mine in Oruro department to reject the government's plans to reduce the company's workforce and charge more for electricity after years of slumping metals prices. Comibol has signed labor accords with workers at Colquiri and its Amayapampa gold unit while consulting other unions about the restructuring.

"The proposal needs to be debated and discussed," local newspaper La Razón cited Navarro as saying. "There is nothing here that goes against workers' rights."

In other mining news, Toronto-based Adventus Zinc is interested in developing Comibol's Santa Isabel silver-lead-zinc project, the ministry said. Navarro is scheduled to meet with company officials next month to discuss project viability, it said in a separate statement.

Adventus spokesman Christian Kargl-Simard declined to comment in a response to an e-mail from BNamericas seeking comment.

Comibol has been beset by problems over the past year, closing its Karachipampa silver-lead smelter and El Mutún iron-steel company due to technical problems and falling metals prices. In addition, Glencore last year filed for arbitration against the Bolivian government for the expropriation of mining assets from 2007-2012.

Private investment has plummeted in Bolivia since leftist President Evo Morales, who assumed power in 2006 and was sworn in for a third consecutive term in 2015, seized mining operations from companies including Glencore, South American Silver and Jindal Steel.

Bolivia, which is home to mines operated by Pan American Silver, Sumitomo, Coeur Mining, Orvana Minerals and Franklin Mining, produced 20,135t tin, 485,352t zinc, 74,501t lead and 45.9Moz silver in 2015, according to the USGS.