Chinese consortium Henan Yuguang International Economic & Technical Cooperation will construct two zinc smelters in the regions of Oruro and Potosi in Bolivia.

The smelters will be built with an investment of $500m and will have a processing capacity of 100,000tpa of zinc concentrate.

The project will be implemented in two phases and the first phase will include a detailed study on the project’s technology, location and engineering.

The second phase of the project will involve the construction of the smelters, which will take two years.

The smelters are expected to be functional in 2015, reports Reuters.