Located approximately 50 km southwest of La Paz, the Corocoro mine would be developed jointly by Korea Resources Corp. (KORES), South Korea’s state-run resources development firm; and its Bolivian counterpart COMIBOL.

“KORES and COMIBOL signed a contract under which a local consortium will be set up early next year (2008) to form a joint development company,” a ministry spokesperson said. “We will also establish a refinery to process copper ore.” He added that the project would be a 50:50 joint venture involving about $200 million of joint investment. South Korea would acquire all products from the mine.

South Korea has the world’s second largest copper refining facilities, which can process about 550,000 mt/y, and the country consumes some 1.4 million mt of copper per year. In 2007, the country invested about $639 million in mineral resources development projects in foreign counties, up 343% from $186 million in 2006, according to the ministry.