When the international tin market collapsed in 1985, the Bolivian economy, heavily reliant on tin production, collapsed along with it. More than half the country’s tin mines closed in the following year and the state-run Comibol mining concern laid off 22,000 workers.
For Bolivians, it has been a long, hard road back from that disaster. However, they have been trodding what has become a well-worn path to the beginnings of renewed prosperity.
Like so many other Latin American states over the past few years, Bolivia has revised its mining and investment laws to entice Canadian and other foreign mining companies to the land-locked, but mineral-rich, country. Several Canadian companies are already exploring concessions in the South American country. And, of course, Battle Mountain is operating the Kori Kollo gold mine which, at 211,000 oz. per year, is the second-largest gold operation on the continent. (Only Placer Dome-TVX’s La Coipa mine in Chile surpasses it in annual production.)
Moreover, such successes could soon become routine rather than exceptional. Late this month, Comibol (mirroring Chile’s Codelco) will be inviting bids for exploration and exploitation of all its undeveloped properties. In addition, Bolivian Energy and Metallurgy Secretary Jaime Villalobos told miners at the recent Expomin mining conference in Chile that Comibol’s operating mines and smelters would also go on the auction block soon. The bidding round will be called before the end of this year. Comibol will eventually wind up as an administrator of mining contracts for the private sector, rather than a mineral producer.
For Canadian mining companies, opportunity once again knocks.
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