A dispute over delayed payments for concentrates between Bolivia’s state-owned smelter and largest mine continues, according to Business News Americas. Employees of Bolivian state miner Empresa Minera Huanuni (EMH) have threatened to take over facilities at the Vinto metallurgical complex (EMV) to demand a US$38 million payment they say CMV owes for tin concentrates, Alfredo Zaconeta, an official at Bolivia’s mining and metallurgy ministry told BNamericas.
On Wednesday morning a group of employees arrived at Vinto – Bolivia’s largest tin smelter – to demand payment of the debt, "but we aren’t talking about a takeover because they were interested in discussing the issue," Zaconeta said. Local press reported that EMH’s 4,600 employees halted activities during three shifts to demand payment of the debt.
In September EMV said that it was cutting production and purchases as part of a plan to clear its debts, which it was supposed to complete by November. The plant produced 6,485 tonnes of refined tin in the first nine months of this year. In a separate report, Reuters said that the smelter has eased its financial problems with a spot sale of 300 tonnes to Venezuelan tinplate producer Sidor.
