Vietnamese Company to Build Copper Plant in Bolivia

La Paz, Apr 11, 2010 (EFE via COMTEX) -- Vietnam's Viet-Han Corporation, or VHG, plans to invest between $10 million and $12 million to build a copper plant in southwestern Bolivia, the La Razon newspaper reported Sunday.

The announcement was made by Claudia Baya, communications manager of Fosfobol, a consulting firm hired by VHG to assist with the project's launch.

The plant will be built at the Cobrizos mine, located in the Andean province of Potosi, which was worked in a rudimentary manner during the colonial period.

The plant will be similar to the one built by the government in Corocoro, a town in La Paz province, with production capacity of 300 tons monthly of copper, Baya told La Razon.

VHG will work the mine and will also purchase copper from the miners' cooperatives that operate under state-owned Comermin, Baya said.

The copper produced by VHG in Cobrizos will be sold to plants that manufacture telephone cables, copper fiber, fiber-optic cables, plastics and construction materials.

The plans for the plant and environmental impact studies have been completed and will be presented to officials in Potosi this week, Baya said.

Viet-Han Corporation also wants to manage 10,000 hectares (24,691 acres) of rubber trees in the eastern province of Santa Cruz for various industrial uses, expanding it presence in that region.