Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07LAPAZ903
2007-04-03 19:36:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy La Paz
Cable title:
COOPERATIVE MINERS "TAKE" CERRO RICO
how-toVZCZCXYZ0001 RR RUEHWEB DE RUEHLP #0903 0931936 ZNY CCCCC ZZH R 031936Z APR 07 FM AMEMBASSY LA PAZ TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3033 INFO RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION 6681 RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA 4004 RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 7891 RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 5145 RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 2369 RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA 2485 RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID 3406 RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO 4523 RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 0116 RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO 5014 RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 9595 RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 0293 RUEHUB/USINT HAVANA 0246 RHMFISS/HQ USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL RUMIAAA/USCINCSO MIAMI FL RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC
C O N F I D E N T I A L LA PAZ 000903
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR WHA/AND LPETRONI
COMMERCE FOR JANGLIN
TREASURY FOR SGOOCH
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/02/2017
TAGS: EMIN EINV ECON PREL PGOV BL
SUBJECT: COOPERATIVE MINERS "TAKE" CERRO RICO
Classified By: DCM Krishna R. Urs for reason 1.4 (c).
C O N F I D E N T I A L LA PAZ 000903
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR WHA/AND LPETRONI
COMMERCE FOR JANGLIN
TREASURY FOR SGOOCH
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/02/2017
TAGS: EMIN EINV ECON PREL PGOV BL
SUBJECT: COOPERATIVE MINERS "TAKE" CERRO RICO
Classified By: DCM Krishna R. Urs for reason 1.4 (c).
1. (U) Press reports indicate that approximately 16,000
cooperative miners "took" Cerro Rico, the mountain that
supplies much of Bolivia's silver, April 2, demanding that
the GOB retreat from a proposed decree suspending surface
mining activity above 4,400 meters. The GOB has argued that
mining activity should cease while the government undertakes
a comprehensive study to assess the mountain's stability,
which experts believe has been undermined by 500 years of
often loosely regulated mineral extraction.
2. (SBU) According to Jim Duff, president of the local
subsidiary of U.S.-based Coeur d'Alene Mines, miners have
threatened road blockades and other measures if the GOB moves
ahead with its decree; cooperatives have proposed instead
that work continue while the GOB conducts a geotechnical
study. Duff remarked to Econoff April 3 that gauging the
severity of the situation is difficult, as thousands of
miners work and "occupy" Cerro Rico every day.
3. (C) Duff indicated that the forced suspension of surface
mining activity above 4,400 meters would have serious
implications for Coeur d'Alene's $135 million San Bartolome
project, as the area represents 40 percent of the venture's
declared silver reserves. In a March 29 meeting with new
Mining Minister Luis Alberto Echazu, Coeur d'Alene Chief
Executive Dennis Wheeler bluntly said the company would have
no choice but to "shut down and pursue international
arbitration" if the GOB issued its decree, as the move would
violate Coeur d'Alene's contractual right to exploit Cerro
Rico silver deposits via surface mining techniques.
4. (C) Comment: Coeur d'Alene executives have raised their
concerns in a letter to President Morales and in
conversations with the mining minister and other GOB
officials; they have not, however, spoken publicly.
According to Duff, all they can do is wait, in hopes of
seeing the GOB continue its pattern of giving in to
cooperatives' demands; if it does, this latest threat to
Coeur d'Alene's operations will evaporate as quickly as it
appeared. End comment.
GOLDBERG
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR WHA/AND LPETRONI
COMMERCE FOR JANGLIN
TREASURY FOR SGOOCH
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/02/2017
TAGS: EMIN EINV ECON PREL PGOV BL
SUBJECT: COOPERATIVE MINERS "TAKE" CERRO RICO
Classified By: DCM Krishna R. Urs for reason 1.4 (c).
1. (U) Press reports indicate that approximately 16,000
cooperative miners "took" Cerro Rico, the mountain that
supplies much of Bolivia's silver, April 2, demanding that
the GOB retreat from a proposed decree suspending surface
mining activity above 4,400 meters. The GOB has argued that
mining activity should cease while the government undertakes
a comprehensive study to assess the mountain's stability,
which experts believe has been undermined by 500 years of
often loosely regulated mineral extraction.
2. (SBU) According to Jim Duff, president of the local
subsidiary of U.S.-based Coeur d'Alene Mines, miners have
threatened road blockades and other measures if the GOB moves
ahead with its decree; cooperatives have proposed instead
that work continue while the GOB conducts a geotechnical
study. Duff remarked to Econoff April 3 that gauging the
severity of the situation is difficult, as thousands of
miners work and "occupy" Cerro Rico every day.
3. (C) Duff indicated that the forced suspension of surface
mining activity above 4,400 meters would have serious
implications for Coeur d'Alene's $135 million San Bartolome
project, as the area represents 40 percent of the venture's
declared silver reserves. In a March 29 meeting with new
Mining Minister Luis Alberto Echazu, Coeur d'Alene Chief
Executive Dennis Wheeler bluntly said the company would have
no choice but to "shut down and pursue international
arbitration" if the GOB issued its decree, as the move would
violate Coeur d'Alene's contractual right to exploit Cerro
Rico silver deposits via surface mining techniques.
4. (C) Comment: Coeur d'Alene executives have raised their
concerns in a letter to President Morales and in
conversations with the mining minister and other GOB
officials; they have not, however, spoken publicly.
According to Duff, all they can do is wait, in hopes of
seeing the GOB continue its pattern of giving in to
cooperatives' demands; if it does, this latest threat to
Coeur d'Alene's operations will evaporate as quickly as it
appeared. End comment.
GOLDBERG