Sao Paulo (Platts)--18Dec2012/325 pm EST/2025 GMT
Bolivian miner Empresa Siderurgica del Mutun said equipment left behind when India's Jindal Steel & Power pulled out of their joint Mutun iron ore project has helped increase output there by 10%. The equipment -- four crushers and four waste sorters, valued at $2 million -- was recently conceded to ESM through legal actions months after the Indian company left the Bolivian integrated iron ore project, which has estimated reserves of 40 billion mt. "With the addition of this machinery we are producing around 30,000 mt/month of iron ore, in two shifts," ESM President Ricardo Cardona said. The Bolivian mining company will invest $19 million to buy additional equipment to explore Mutun's reserves, the company said. "With the investment amount it will be possible to buy machinery ... and all mining equipment will arrive in early 2013," Cardona said, adding the new equipment will enable ore production of 1 million mt/year. The project also includes a concentration plant, a pelletizer, a sponge iron plant, a pig iron plant, an ingot steel plant, an energy generation plant and steelworks. Jindal pulled out of the project earlier this year, after several disagreements with the Bolivian government and breach of contract allegations by both parties. Bolivia's first iron ore concentrate plant will be ready in 2013 and represents a total investment of $100 million.--Guilherme Baida, guilherme_baida@platts.com --Edited by Carla Bass, carla_bass@platts.com