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Bolivia Threatens Chile's Copper Output
With Water Dispute
By Matthew Craze
Dec. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Bolivia plans to ``industrialize'
a river that supplies water to Chile's Atacama Desert, threatening the world's largest copper mining district.
Bolivia placed a 20-man military post on the banks
of the river, about 4 kilometers away from Chile's
border, as a first step to tapping the water
resource, Bolivia's government state information
agency ABI said today.
The Silala River flows from 4,000 meters above sea
level in the Andes cordillera to Chile's
Antofagasta region, which produces most of the
nation's copper.
Mining companies need water to extract metal
from bare rock.
Bolivia President Evo Morales urged plans to
industrialize the water resource which is now
being ``diverted illegally into Chile,'
ABI reported.
Morales, who formerly campaigned for coca- leaf
growers, plans to bottle the water and sell it
with the slogan,
``Drink Silala water for sovereignty,'
ABI said.
Morales, who became Bolivia's first indigenous
leader last year, attended an Army parade with
at the outcrop today wearing military uniform.
Chile's state-run Codelco, the world's largest
mining company, uses Silala water to turn ore
from its Chuquicamata and Radomiro Tomic mines
into copper concentrate, an intermediary product
which is refined into metal.
BHP Billiton, the world's largest mining company,
also operates its Escondida mine in
Chile's Antofagasta region.
Escondida is the world's largest copper mine,
while Chuquicamata is the third-largest.
Bolivia lost the Antofagasta region in a four-year
war with Chile and Peru in the late 19th century.
The two countries have severed diplomatic ties and
Bolivia has petitioned the United Nations to grant
it access to the Pacific Ocean.
Bolivia is South America's poorest nation.
Copper prices have quadrupled since 2002 on
the London Metal Exchange because of a global
shortage caused by surging demand from China.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Matthew Craze in Buenos Aires at
mcraze@bloomberg.net
Last Updated:
December 27, 2006 21:14 EST
bloomberg.com
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