Bolivia is a landlocked country in the center of South America. Its economy is centered on the mining industry and its primary exports are tin, zinc, silver and gold. Natural gas will soon become a major export commodity. The government is democratic and has been stable since the early 1980's.

The western half of the country is a high plain between two arms of the Andes mountains, known as the altiplano. The Itos project site is located in the town of Oruro approximately in the middle of the altiplano at an elevation of 3700 meters (12,300 ft). A good paved road connects Oruro with the capital city of La Paz, three hours to the north.

Oruro is a town of about 150,000 inhabitants which was founded to exploit the San Jose mine in about 1590. The San Jose and Itos mines are adjacent to each other and contain narrow near-vertical silver veins. Since 1953 (and until the mine closed in 1992) the ore from both mines was treated in the Itos flotation plant which is the source of the Itos tailings. The mine is currently 500 meters deep and is maintained in good standby condition. When the mine is re-opened the ore from the mine can be processed directly in the Itos chloride leach plant without the need to make a flotation concentrate.