MINESUR: Venezuela/Brazil/Argentina agree to gigantic new mining plan

MINESUR: Venezuela/Brazil/Argentina agree to gigantic new mining plan

by David Coleman

23rd January 2006

http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=47743

VHeadline.com mining & resources correspondent David Coleman writes: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Frias and his Brazilian counterpart Luis Inacio da Silva, with Argentina's Nestor Kirchner, have announced a trilateral accord under which they will work together to promote regional mining activities.

Speaking in the Brazilian capital, Brasilia, Venezuela's Basic Industries & Mining (Mibam) Minister, Victor Alvarez said that a strategic association is to be set up with Brazil and Argentina to coordinate mining resources as being crucial to each nation's industrial development since the three countries together can count on enormous mining potentials to begin resource exploitation within a "complimentary perspective."

The tri-partite accord has been signed by each Head of State as the foundation for the construction of a southern continental MineSur mining project. "If we see the situation as separate countries we will not have the same potential or strength that we can encounter when we see the collectivation of mining resources from all the countries together," Alvarez said in an official statement.

At the same time, he sees possibilities for the three nations to advance cooperation with regard to industrial development given that besides having the mining resources that also manufacture raw materials and intermediary products. Alvarez adds that besides the willingness expressed by the three Heads of State is the training of specialized human resources to take advantage of mining reserves and the manage information technology.

Likewise, the Minister stated that the first step will be to define the necessary productive networks to facilitate a review of proven mineral reserves across the three regions of Venezuela, Brazil and Argentina in a move to update what is conservatively reckoned to be the largest mineral reserves in the world.