Andean Silver denies Tocopilla decision made

Andean Silver Corp, operator of the San Cristobal silver-zinc-lead project in southwest Bolivia's Potosi department, has denied the claims of the mayor of the Chilean town of Tocopilla, Aleksander Kurtovic, that San Cristobal production would definitely be exported via the Chilean port. The mayor had said the mining company was in the process of making the Tocopilla decision definitive in the coming months. But Carlos Fernandez, Andean Silver CEO, told BNamericas that the mayor's statement "is a version which is not officially recognized by our company. We don't know where the mayor is coming from with this version, as he has not had any contact with us, nor have we had any with third parties," he said. For the executive the port issue has been a surprise, given that no representative of Andean Silver has discussed the matter with anyone. "What he has said has no basis as far as we are concerned," Fernandez said. According to mayor Kurtovic, previous plans to route mine output through the port were held up on account of low international prices for lead and zinc, along with the problem of overland transport from the mine to the port. In terms of size and costs, San Cristobal is one of the most attractive lead and zinc operations in the world. It is designed to initially operate an average rate of 40,000t/d, producing 27Moz/y contained silver and 260,000t/y zinc plus lead credits. Andean Silver is a subsidiary of Denver-based Apex Silver (Amex: SIL), which has estimated investment in the project at US$420mn.