Kores to invest US$200mn in Corocoro

South Korean state company Korea Resources (Kores) will invest US$200mn to carry out the second stage of the Corocoro copper project, a spokesperson from Bolivian state miner Comibol told BNamericas. "Kores signed a letter of intent with the Bolivian government on Wednesday to carry out the project," said Katherine Álvarez from Comibol's press office. The second stage of the project aims to determine reserves at the Umacoya and Viscachani deposits "for a [future] open-pit mine," she said. "Works will begin as soon as possible." Comibol was also preparing for a future tender to build the mine's basic structures and a plant. But "for now it hopes to establish some 50:50 JV contracts to obtain resources and start looking at projects," said a spokesperson from the mining ministry. The results of studies that Kores plans to perform will define the characteristics of the future mining project and the investments needed to develop it. Corocoro used to be Bolivia's largest copper mine and holds some 15Mt of copper reserves, according to local and international press. The Corocoro mining district sits 4,156m above sea level in La Paz department.