Bolivian government to review mining laws (November 06, 2006)

A greater role for the government in the mining sector is now explicitly on the table in Bolivia, following a series of riots at the Huanuni tin mine that left 16 people — mine employees and miners from independent mining co-operatives — dead, and cost the mines minister his job.

The riots, which included gunfights and dynamite-throwing, arose from a dispute between the independents, who are seeking access to Huanuni, and employees of the mine operator, state enterprise Comibol. Fighting between the sides started Oct. 5 and was quelled a day later when the two sides reached a truce. Both criticized the new Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) government for failing to stop the fighting.

President Evo Morales sacked mines minister Walter Villaroel, an independent miner himself who had openly supported the co-operatives against Comibol. Villaroel was replaced by Guillermo Dalence, who said he would announce a plan “of returning to the Bolivian state the unrestricted use of all natural resources, in this case the mines.” He said the plan would be announced on Oct. 31: a symbolic date, because it marks the 54th anniversary of a previous nationalization of the Bolivian tin industry by the government of Victor Paz Estenssoro.

Morales himself suggested the government would expropriate mines where private interests had not invested enough.

The plan would appear to involve, at a minimum, strengthening Comibol so it can hire back miners from the tin co-operatives, although Dalence’s statement suggests it could be more ambitious than that. The MAS government — on another symbolic date, May 1 — has already taken control of private-enterprise natural gas projects in eastern Bolivia, from Spanish energy producer Repsol and Brazilian state oil company Petrobras.

Among the North American mining companies with projects in Bolivia are Apex Silver (SIL-X), Apogee Minerals (APE-V, AGEEF-O), Coeur d’Alene Mines (CDE-N, CDE-T), Eaglecrest Explorations (EEL-V, EGLXF-O), Esperanza Silver (EPZ-V, ESPZF-O), General Minerals (GNM-T), Luzon Minerals (LZN-V, LZMNF-O), Orvana Minerals (ORV-T, ORVMF-O), Pan American Silver (PAA-T, PAAS-Q), Samex Mining (SXG-V, SMXMF-O), and Solitario Resources (SLR-T, XPL-X).

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