Global miners and mining equipment vendors bidding for Bolivia's mineral resources, including world-class lithium and silver deposits, note that new laws giving the state more control over their operations are not likely to endanger investments. Bolivia, governed for the past three years by leftist Evo Morales, the nation's first indigenous president, voted in a new constitution in January that forces mining companies to sign new operating contracts allowing state mining company Comibol to oversee their activities.
Mineral-rich Bolivia has given miners a year to sign the new contracts giving the state a say in how their operations are run, but companies believe that the plan does not spell trouble for them.
