Economy
Chinese, Russian investments in Bolivian lithium plants raise alarm
The vast wealth of resources in Latin America has rendered the region vulnerable to malign powers that seek to exploit rather than invest in the continent's potential.
![Carlos Ramos Mamani (R), president of Yacimientos Litio Boliviano (YLB), and Xie Yunrong, legal representative of China's CITIC Guoan Group, June 29 in La Paz show the documents after signing an agreement for the industrialization of lithium. [Aizar Raldes/AFp]](/gc4/images/2023/06/30/42857-33lp7uc-highres-600_384.webp)
By AFP and Entorno |
LA PAZ -- China and Russia will invest $1.4 billion in lithium projects in Bolivia, a South American nation with vast reserves of the metal crucial for batteries to power electric vehicles, the government said on Thursday (June 29).
China's CITIC Guoan and Russia's Uranium One Group, both companies with strong state involvement, will partner with Yacimientos de Litio Bolivianos (YLB) to install two lithium carbonate plants, President Luis Arce said at a public event.
As the world shifts toward cleaner energy, lithium has become more important because of its role in rechargeable lithium-ion batteries for vehicles and in renewable energy storage systems.
Bolivian, Chinese and Russian representatives of the three companies were present at the signing of the agreement.
In January Arce's government signed another agreement with the Chinese consortium CATL Brunp & CMOC (CBC) to install two lithium battery plants. CBC pledged an investment of at least $1 billion.
According to the government's presentation, Uranium One Group will invest $578 million in a plant in the Pastos Grandes salt flats and China's CITIC Guoan $857 million in a second plant north of the Uyuni salt flats, both in the southwest Andean department of Potosi.
The Ministry of Hydrocarbons and Energy said in a statement that "each of the complexes will have the capacity to produce up to 25,000 metric tons per year."
Construction of the plants will begin in the next three months.
Bolivia has certified its lithium reserves in the Uyuni salt flats at 21 million tons and assures potential buyers that it is the world's biggest source.
But it has struggled to exploit its abundant lithium, for reasons including difficult geography, political tensions and lack of technical expertise.
The Ministry of Hydrocarbons and Energy announced in January that by 2025 it expects to export $5 billion of lithium, which would exceed its earnings from natural gas, which in 2022 generated revenues of $3.4 billion and is the country's main source of income.