LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — The Bolivian government signed an agreement on Wednesday with a consortium that includes the Chinese giant Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), the largest manufacturer and recycler of lithium batteries, for the installation of an experimental plant of lithium carbonate and announced that a new call will be launched to attract foreign investment.
The state-owned Yacimientos de Litio Bolivianos (YLB) signed a new agreement with the Chinese consortium CBC – which unites CATL, BRUMP and CMOC, two other companies in the sector – to develop the pilot plant with a production capacity of 2,500 tons of lithium carbonate per year in the Salar de Uyuni, in the Potosí region, one of the largest saline deserts in the world and which has one of the largest reserves of lithium.
Lithium carbonate is used in the production of lithium-ion batteries, as explained in the meeting between both parties at the Bolivian Government Palace.
Depending on the results of the experimental project, the bases will be established to know the industrial capacity at which a future lithium carbonate plant could be built, reported the Vice Minister of Exploration and Exploitation of Energy Resources, Raúl Mayta.
The tests carried out, Mayta indicated, will provide the necessary support in environmental and construction terms.
“The national government has taken this issue of industrialization to be a strategic issue,” said President Arce at the signing of the agreement.
Shortly after, Arce also announced that Bolivia is open to new investment partners, so in the coming days there will be a new international call.
However, he emphasized that international companies must accept Bolivia’s requirements that they must participate in the production chain, up to marketing.
This is the second agreement that Contemporary Amperex Technology signs with Bolivia. In January of last year, it signed another for the construction of two industrial complexes for the production of lithium carbonate.