Negotiations to convert lease arrangements by a Glencore subsidiary on several mines in Bolivia into a joint venture with the state mining company, Comibol, have been successfully concluded, according to Bloomberg. The agreement involves Glencore’s Sinchi Wayra tin assets, said Katherine Alvarez, a spokeswoman for Comibol. Alvarez declined to provide details of the agreement.
Sinchi Wayra produces tin and zinc at the Colquiri mine. Current production is some 2,500 tpy of tin-in-concentrate, but there is potential to both increase the mining rate and treat mine tailings. Other news reports state that the joint venture is on a 50:50 basis.
The deal was concluded at the same time as Bolivia’s President Evo Morales issued a decree to seize Transredes Transporte de Hidrocarburos SA, a natural-gas pipeline partly owned by Europe’s Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Ashmore Energy International. Bolivia nationalized the Vinto tin smelter formerly controlled by Sinchi Wayra in February 2007.
