Bolivia’s Empresa Metalurgica Vinto tin smelter has ore stocks for just two or three more days of operation, Public Relations Director Monica Mendoza told Dow Jones Newswires on Monday, although the plant was not expected to stop production.
Workers at Comibol’s Huanuni mine, Vinto’s principal source for tin ore, have been on strike since last week over demands for greater autonomy and modernization of the mine complex. Mine workers voted to strike indefinitely during a union meeting on Saturday, according to local daily La Razon. "Huanuni sells us a significant part of the concentrate we buy, about 70 percent," Ms Mendoza had earlier told Reuters.
All production from Huanuni, which amounted to 3,825 tonnes in the first half of this year, goes to Vinto. In addition co-operative workers also produce around 200 tpm from workings around the mine. Demonstrations by some of these over access to reserves had originally sparked the current dispute.
Huanuni made a profit of US$15.8 million in the first five months of this year.
