San Cristóbal

San Cristóbal is a large open-pit zinc, lead and silver mine in Nor Lípez Province near the town of San Cristóbal in Bolivia's Potosí department, operated by Minera San Cristóbal with backing from Japan's Sumitomo Corporation. Incorporated in 2000, the project overcame early delays to begin mining in 2007 and reach full design capacity within two years, processing tens of millions of tonnes of ore annually into zinc-silver and lead-silver concentrates. Its development included building a new town with a relocated colonial-era church, more than 200 kilometres of roads and a 65-kilometre rail link, representing an investment of close to US$1.8 billion.