Bolivia announces $1 billion deal with China to build lithium factories
Bolivia said on Tuesday it had signed a $1 billion deal with China’s CBC, a subsidiary of the world’s largest lithium battery maker CATL, to build two lithium carbonate production plants in the southwestern part of the country.
Bolivia’s state-owned Bolivia Lithium Deposits (YLB) said the plants – one with an annual capacity of 10,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate and the other of 25,000 tonnes – would be located in the vast Uyuni salt flats.
Lithium, nicknamed ‘white gold’, is a key component in the production of batteries for electric vehicles and mobile phones.
Bolivia claims to have the largest lithium reserves in the world.
President Luis Arce, who presided over Tuesday’s signing ceremony, said this paved the way for Bolivia to become “a very important player in determining the international price of lithium.”
The deal follows an earlier agreement reached last year between Russia’s Uranium One Group and YLB to build a US$970 million lithium extraction facility, also in Uyuni.
Both deals still need to be approved by the Bolivian parliament.
Arce announced that negotiations were underway with China’s Citic Guoan Group for a third contract.
“We hope to close the deal as soon as possible,” he said.
