Bolivia's Comibol shuts Vinto tin smelter for repairs

Bolivian state mining company Comibol, which is struggling to increase metals output at its aging installations, shut its Vinto tin smelter for repairs, a senior executive said.

The company plans to spend June changing the refractory bricks that line the smelter's US$40mn Ausmelt blast furnace, Empresa Metalúrgica Vinto's (EMV) general manager Ramiro Villavicencio said.

The company, which shipped 6,000t tin through May and posted US$100mn in export revenue, had hoped to produce 13,000t tin this year, according to Villavicencio. Vinto mainly exports to the US, China, the EU, Mexico and Chile. Tin prices gained 10% so far this year to US$20,650/t through the end of May.

Vinto produced 12,637t refined tin last year, down from 13,111t in 2016, according to the company's website.

The company, expropriated from Swiss trader Glencore in 2007, is working on studies for a US$345mn expansion that would increase capacity to 62,000t/y and treat other metals such as indium, gallium, germanium, copper, silver and lead, according to Comibol.

The company has also made the final payment of a US$40mn loan from the Bolivian treasury for the Ausmelt blast furnace, Villavicencio told state news agency ABI.

Comibol has been beset by problems in recent years, facing strikes, protests, mineral theft and the closure of its Karachipampa silver-lead smelter and El Mutún iron-steel company due to technical problems. In addition, Glencore last year filed for arbitration against the Bolivian government over the expropriation of mining assets from 2007-12.

Bolivian metals exports, led by zinc, gold, silver and tin totaled US$3.72bn last year, accounting for about half of Bolivia's total exports of US$7.85bn, according to the Bolivian foreign trade institute (IBCE).

Bolivia's mining industry, led by Glencore, Pan American Silver, Sumitomo, Argentum, Orvana Minerals and Franklin Mining, produced 17,460t tin, 486,955t zinc, 89,510t lead, 47.7Moz silver, 12,810kg gold, 8,718t copper, 1,399t tungsten, 2,669t antimony, 43,253kg bismuth and 2,940t iron ore in 2016, according to the national statistics institute.

President Evo Morales, who plans to run for a fourth straight mandate next year, has launched a drive to invest about US$2bn in the mining and metallurgical industries by 2020, including mines, smelters and foundries.

Private investment has plummeted in Bolivia since President Morales seized mining assets from companies including Glencore, South American Silver and Jindal Steel after first taking power in 2006. Since then, Morales has striven to build up Comibol, which is investing about US$200mn/y in projects.