LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) – A consortium of Bolivian agribusiness entrepreneurs announced Sunday that it is managing the purchase of San Cristóbal, Bolivia’s largest mine owned by Japan’s Sumitomo.
“We are in the final phase with the current owners,” Luis Fernando Barbery, president of the Unagro Corporation (Cañeros Agroindustrial Union) said at a press conference on Sunday.
Barbery, who also chairs the Confederation of Private Entrepreneurs of Bolivia, indicated that he could not give more details because there is a confidentiality agreement, although he assured that all the commitments of the Sumitomo company will be fulfilled.
The mining company had not yet commented on the matter.
San Cristóbal is located 500 kilometers south of La Paz, in the Potosí region. It is one of the largest open-pit mines in the world and its foreign sales of zinc, lead and silver constitute about half of the Andean country’s total mining exports.
Barbery assured that among the businessmen who join in the mining incursion they are understood on the subject and that they are part of the Potosí region. He added that they want the company to continue with its work until 2050, referring to the fact that Sumitomo planned to operate it until 2024.
Currently the mine has more than 1,500 employees. In 2014 the firm asked the Bolivian government to clarify the conditions to continue investing in the country since the company reported that it invested 1.8 billion dollars.