BNamericas reported that the board of Bolivian state steel company ESM approved the opening of a mine called ESM 1 to begin extracting iron ore at Santa Cruz department's El Mutún deposit in January 2012.

Mr Sergio Alandia president of ESM said that the opening of the mine was delayed due to regional problems that led to roadblocks and affected the arrival of the heavy machinery for the project.

He added that "Part of the machinery is already at the Chilean port of Arica. On January 6th 2012, it will arrive in the country and in mid-January, production will begin."

At least 1.8 million tonnes per annum of iron ore is expected to be mined from ESM 1. ESM and state miner Comibol have a JV with India's Jindal Steel & Power to develop 50% of the deposit and build a steel plant.

(Sourced from www.bnamericas.com)