From @EY_MiningMetals's Resource nationalism July 2014 update: Bolivia has approved a new mining law, which denies cooperatives the right to partner with private companies, whether domestic or foreign. The law also bans private firms from registering minerals as property, which means they can’t use them as collateral for loans or include them as assets in stock market filings. Bolivians, however, can now form mixed business enterprises with or through the state mining agency, Comibol.
Until now, some of Bolivia's largest mines had operated as partnerships between exchange-listed multinationals and small local cooperatives. The new mining law, while bringing the sector in line with the 2009 constitution, will have an important impact on those operations, including Sumitomo’s San Cristobal open-pit silver, lead and zinc mine.
Under the revised regulations, which create a new government division to oversee the mining sector, all pre-existing contracts will be respected, though concessions will be limited to 62,000
hectares. Those whose terms and conditions do not conform to the new law can be renegotiated over 12 to 18 months.*
* - "Bolivia passes mining law that bans partnerships with multinationals", Mining.com, 5 June 2014
Read all the updates on Resource Nationalism from EY here: Resource nationalism update - July 2014 - EY-Resource-nationalism-July-2014.pdf
