As part of the prospectus for its multi-billion dollar IPO, commodity trading giant Glencore has commented on plans for its zinc, lead and tin operations in Bolivia, the Wall Street Journal reports. A subsidiary of the Swiss-based commodities producer and marketer owns Sinchi Wayra, the operator of five mines in the Oruro and Potosi regions of Bolivia, most of which are currently leased from the state mining authority Comibol. The mines annually produce around 205,000 metric tons of zinc concentrate, 15,000 tons of lead concentrate and 6,000 tons of tin concentrate (all figures are gross weights – tin content of concentrates is a little over 2,000 tpy). Recently some unions called for their nationalisation, but this was resisted by the Bolivian government.
“In 2009, the government of Bolivia enacted a new constitution which requires mining entities to form joint ventures with the government,” the company said. “Glencore has entered into good faith negotiations with the government regarding this requirement, and a resolution of the issue is expected to be announced by the government in the near future,” it added. One of the mines is already operated as a JV. It also noted that it is considering a plan to expand production by 2013. “The plan is currently being considered further by management, but such a plan is expected to include a project to reprocess old tailings containing significant levels of zinc and tin at the Colquiri mine, together with works to remove processing and hoisting bottlenecks,” Glencore added. The project would require capital expenditure of around $65 million. ITRI believes that the project would at least double tin-in-concentrate production.
