Long-running negotiations to convert some of Glencore subsidiary Sinchi Wayra’s mines into joint ventures with state participation are now held up as a result of labour unrest, according to Bloomberg. The government has been mediating at talks between Sinchi Wayra and unions over recent months over cost cutting measures introduced by the company in response to slumping metals prices at the end of last year. The Sinchi Wayra mines mainly produce zinc, lead and silver, but its Colquiri mine produces some 2,500 tpy of tin-in-concentrate.
“We’re finishing an agreement, but first they have to resolve labour problems that they’ve been having with workers since the month of November,” Mining Minister Luis Alberto Echazu said on Friday at a briefing for reporters in La Paz.
The company withdrew 700 redundancy notices to its miners in mid-February and also agreed to maintain wage levels, but reserved the right to pursue productivity-raising measures at individual mines. Subsequently workers at the Bolivar zinc mine have protested at plans to introduce 10 hour shifts there.
Last August Echazu told the Bolivian ANF news agency that the government and Glencore were close to agreeing a 50:50 joint venture agreement to operate the Colquiri and Porco mines, as well as finally settling compensation terms for the nationalisation of the Vinto smelter in February 2007. At the end of January, Bloomberg reported the minister saying that talks were to be due to be concluded “in a few weeks, at the maximum.”
