Bolivia's Comibol to start up new Huanuni tin plant in 2018

Bolivian state mining company Comibol is on track to bring online a new US$50mn processing plant at its Huanuni tin mine in the first quarter of 2018, according to a senior official.

The new plant at the Huanuni underground mine in Oruro department will double processing capacity to 3,000t/d, Comibol said in a statement. The plant, which has faced numerous delays due to lack of water and slumping tin prices, was originally scheduled to start operating in 2015.

The plant will ramp up gradually and will not reach installed capacity until April 2019, according to Guillermo Dalence, head of Comibol unit Empresa Minera Huanuni.

"We want it to start operating in March, not at 3,000t/d but with lower tonnage to carry out a process of adjustments," Dalence said in the statement. "We plan to carry out work on the exterior of the mine."

Operations at Huanuni were halted by a strike in July as workers protested against the government's plans to reduce the company's workforce and charge more for electricity. Mineral theft at the mine, declared in a state of emergency in February, is also costing the company an estimated 2mn bolivianos (US$280,000) a month.

Huanuni produced 7,084t tin last year, down from 7,695t in 2015, according to the company's website.

Comibol has been beset by problems over the past year, closing both the Karachipampa and Vinto smelters, as well as its El Mutún iron-steel company due to technical problems and falling metals prices. In addition, Swiss trader Glencore last year filed for arbitration against the Bolivian government for the expropriation of mining assets in 2007-2012.

President Evo Morales, who was sworn in for a third consecutive term in 2015, has seized mining operations from companies including Glencore, South American Silver and Jindal Steel since first taking office in 2006. Morales pledged to invest nearly US$2bn in the state company through 2020.

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, the most recent available figure, according to the USGS.