Vale to greenlight Peru phosphate mine expansion
reuters.com
Thu Sep 15, 2011 8:23pm EDT
* Expansion to nearly double mine's phosphate output
* Construction to start in 2012
(Reuters) - Brazilian miner Vale will greenlight a plan to expand production at its Peruvian phosphate mine by nearly 50 percent to 5.8 million tonnes, the head of Peru operations said on Thursday.
Construction on the expansion of the Bayovar mine in northern Peru will begin in 2012, Vale's general manager in Peru Jalmiro Lazarini said at the Perumin convention in Arequipa.
"We have a plan to expand Bayovar, it's still in the study phase, I believe that toward the end of the year we will have a decision on construction and likely begin in 2012," he told journalists.
Lazarini declined to say how much Vale ( VALE5.SA) would invest in the expansion.
Vale opened Bayovar, one of the largest phosphate deposits in South America, in July 2010 with a $570 million investment. The mine has a production capacity of 3.9 million tonnes per year and reserves of 238 million tonnes of phosphate, used to produce fertilizer.
Vale, the world's largest iron ore miner, also has phosphate and potassium projects in Brazil, Argentina, Canada and Mozambique. (Reporting by Patricia Velez) |
