PARAGUAY

PARAGUAY

Canadian companies seek joint ventures

BNAmericas

10th May 2007

By Harvey Beltrán

Several Canadian companies are in talks with Paraguayan mining companies holding concessions in the South American country with the goal of creating joint ventures for mining development. "Three local companies hold concession contracts and we know they already have some important contacts with junior companies from Canada," Paraguay's deputy mining minister Héctor Ruiz Díaz told BNamericas.

The Paraguayans are: Minas Paraguay, which explores several gold areas in the Paso Yobai zone of Guairá department; Minera Guairá, exploring in the same department; World Mining, a gold explorer in southern Itapúa department.

The deputy minister believes that Canadian companies have chosen Paraguay thanks to the new legal framework and security offered by the mining law, which was recently approved by the nation's congress. The new legal framework creates a much more competitive scenario which aims to show that Paraguay has mining potential, Ruiz said.

"We have mineral resources and great prospects thanks to the strong evidence of metallic and non-metallic mineral deposits," he said. The country anticipates capturing high-risk investment in the best way possible, backed by the handful of clear rules and guidelines the investor demands, Ruiz said. "We hope that with all of these steps, the sector - which is stagnant - will manage to travel the same path that other countries in the region are taking."

Canadian companies already operating in Paraguay include diamond explorer Rex Diamond Mining and Morrison Mining, which has discovered areas with nickel and platinum.