Investment in the future

El Mutún – one of the world’s largest iron ore deposits

1 Abbaugebiet „El Mutn“ ● The El Mutn orefield

2 Eisenerz- und Manganvorkommen in „El Mutn“ ● Iron ore and manganese deposits at El Mutn

3 Ein Bagger bringt das Erz zur Brechanlage ● An excavator conveys the ore to the crusher installation

4 Sandvik QE 440

Summary: El Mutn, one of South America’s most significant iron ore and manganese
deposits, is located in south-eastern Bolivia, 27 km from the town of Puerto Suárez.
Empresa Siderrgica del Mutn (ESM), which signed a Joint Venture agreement with
Jindal Steel Bolivia LTD (JSB) on July 18, 2007, is responsible for the recovery of ore on
a 5525 hectare site, some 50 % of the total deposit claim.

According to a geological study performed in 2006 by the Bolivian National Geological and Technical Mining Institute (Sergeotecmin), the reserves in the El Mutn orefield
(Figure 1) contain 40.205 billion tonnes of iron-bearing minerals, in the form, principally, of hematite (Fe₂O₃), magnetite (Fe₃O₄) and some little siderite (FeCO₃), plus ten billion tonnes of manganese (MnO₂). The El Mutn field consists of a surface area of around 60 km² of iron-bearing strata of thicknesses ranging from 100 to 300 metres, interspersed in some cases by manganese-bearing veins of a few centimetres in thickness...

Mauro Nogarin

Specialized journalist

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