Bolvia’s Vinto smelter is reactivating two furnaces in an effort to boost monthly refined tin production to 1,000 tpm. General Manager Franciso Infantes told BNamericas that initially a large rotary furnace has been reactivated, calling for a US$500,000 investment, adding that low tin prices have forced the company to increase production. "In other words, we have to produce more in order to deal with the crisis," he said.
The rotary furnace will operate in conjunction with the two reverberatory units and an electric furnace that are currently operating. In three months a further old reverberatory furnace will be re-commissioned, at a cost of a further $1.5 million. The investments are in line with plans to expand production at Comibol’s Huanuni mine, which is the main source of concentrate supply to the plant. Bolivian Mining Minister Luis Alberto Echazú said last month that the smelter was expected to be producing 1,000 tpm by August.
