A report by this state-owned company on Wednesday said that the company is “committed to developing new technologies such as EDL to accelerate and scale up lithium carbonate production in light of growing demand” in the global market for this type of battery.
Proof of this, according to the text, is the recent signing of an agreement with CBC, a Chinese company selected in an international tender published on April 30, 2021 involving 20 foreign consortia.
Eight were shortlisted and YLB signed letters of intent and confidentiality agreements with them between October and November 2021 to pilot their EDL technologies with brines from the Uyuni, Pastos Grandes (Potosí) and Coipasa (Oruro) salt pans.
This technological process consists in extracting lithium from brine without the use of evaporation ponds; It is a new and modern way to reduce costs and production times and protect the environment, according to the letter.
Its advantages include reducing costs, time, saving chemicals, water and electricity; It also allows the recovery of lithium in a high percentage and the increase in the production of carbonate of this mineral with the least impact on the environment.
Through the agreement, Bolivia aims to increase production of battery-grade lithium carbonate by at least 50,000 tons per year, with the construction of two industries using EDL technology suitable for the properties of the Potosí and Oruro salt flats, the report concludes.
President Luis Arce pledged in late January that his country was ratifying “the sovereignty to decide with whom it does business,” in response to statements by four-star General Laura Richardson, chief of the United States Southern Command.
“This isn’t the first time the United States has spoken out about our natural resources. And I want to emphasize that they are our natural resources,” the Argentine president said in an interview with the Telam news agency.
Speaking to the Atlantic Council in Washington, the military chief argued that Latin America is of interest to the United States as part of its national security.
The senior Pentagon official justified Washington’s ambitions on hydrocarbons, other minerals, aquifers and Amazon biodiversity on the basis of an alleged threat to democracy in this area from Russia and China.
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