“During this first quarter, Yacimientos de Litio Boliviano (YLB) raised 130 million Bolivians ($18.5 million) in lithium carbonate sales,” said executive president of this government body, Carlos Ramos.
Speaking to ATB TV station, Ramos explained that the quantity sold came from a facility operating under pilotage conditions.
However, he expressed optimism because in the future the highland country will have the Lithium Carbonate Industrial Plant in Uyuni, construction of which is 75 percent complete and expected to be operational by the end of this year.
The managing director reported that the production capacity of this factory will be 15,000 tons per year, a number they want to reach in the shortest possible time due to the good price of the mineral, a resource he described as “very valuable”.
Ramos said that the vision of President Luis Arce’s government is to industrialize lithium in the country, bearing in mind that the Plurinational State has the largest reserves of this metal in the world.
Complementing the topic, he commented that the development of cathodes and the industrial production of batteries will strengthen the value chain of this mineral in the South American nation.
He emphasized that the quantification of lithium is concentrated in Uyuni, but recalled that Bolivia has 16 salt pans, among which he mentioned those of Coipasa and Pastos Grandes in Oruro and Potosí, respectively.
He added that these areas have not yet been explored and need to be quantified to specify their potential.
According to the YLB, Bolivia is currently on the verge of industrializing lithium with the commissioning of potassium chloride (agricultural fertilizer), lithium carbonate and battery plants on pilot and industrial scale in the Uyuni Salt Flats.
ode/jpm