Bolivia’s President Evo Morales is expected to announce the signing of an agreement to install a new furnace at the Vinto metallurgical complex in Oruro later this week. "It will take nearly 18 months to install the new equipment, which calls for a US$15million investment," a spokesperson from Bolivia’s mining and metallurgy ministry told BNamericas, adding that the steps necessary to gain the respective permits are already in motion. The investment is part of a technological support agreement with the Venezuelan government.
The announcement will come almost exactly a year after the plant was seized on 9 February 2007 by the Bolivian government from previous owners Sinchi Wayra, the Bolivian subsidiary of Glencore. Following the nationalisation production has fallen by about 20%.
