The head of Peru operations said that Brazilian miner Vale will green light a plan to expand production at its Peruvian phosphate mine by nearly 50% to 5.8 million tones.

Mr Jalmiro Lazarini Vale general manager in Peru said at the Perumin convention in Arequipa said that construction on the expansion of the Bayovar mine in northern Peru will begin in 2012.

He said that "We have a plan to expand Bayovar, it's still in the study phase, I believe that toward the end of the year we will have a decision on construction and likely begin in 2012.” But Mr Lazarini declined to say how much Vale would invest in the expansion.

Vale opened Bayovar, one of the largest phosphate deposits in South America, in July 2010 with a USD 570 million investment. The mine has a production capacity of 3.9 million tonnes per year and reserves of 238 million tonnes of phosphate, used to produce fertilizer.

Vale, the world's largest iron ore miner, also has phosphate and potassium projects in Brazil, Argentina, Canada and Mozambique.

(Sourced from Thomson Reuters)