Bolivia uses China and Russia in an attempt to exploit vast lithium riches

(Patria) - The Bolivian government has signed lithium agreements with the Russian state nuclear company
Rosatom and the Chinese group Citic Guoan, Press TV reported.

Minister of Energy Franklin Molina said the investments will enable the construction of two
lithium processing plants in the towns of Pasto Grande and Uyuni Norte, which will produce
at least 45,000 tons of lithium carbonate annually. "With these agreements, our country will be able to
produce around 100,000 (metric) tons of lithium carbonate in 2025 in Uyuni, Coipasa and
Pasto Grande," Molina said in La Paz, the capital of Bolivia.

The agreements, which envisage a total investment of $1.4 billion, follow a similar deal in
January with the giant Chinese battery manufacturer CATL, a potential victory for Beijing in its efforts to secure supply of the metal used in electric vehicles.

CATL is the world's largest EV battery maker, but it does not currently produce lithium.

Russia's Rosatom, which bid through its Uranium One Group unit, also confirmed
the news, saying it would invest $600 million in the project, its first major lithium venture
abroad, with a planned annual capacity of 25,000 tons of lithium carbonate.

"There is a possibility of increasing capacity based on the results of geological exploration," said
Kirill Komarov, first deputy general director of Rosatom.

Elsewhere, Molina said Citic Guoan would invest $857 million and would also "consider investing in battery plants and installation, perhaps with technical studies,
vehicle assembly plants, to create a true electric transport revolution".

The deal with Uranium One Group concerned feasibility studies and pre-investment studies,
he said, adding that multiple Russian tests on salt flats had shown a lithium recovery rate
of more than 80 percent, with a purity of approximately 99.5 percent.

The agreements could help finally unlock Bolivia's vast potential as a supplier of lithium for the batteries needed to power the global transition to electric vehicles.

According to the US Geological Survey, Bolivia is home to the world's largest lithium resources with 21 million tons, but the country has virtually no commercially viable reserves.

In March, Bolivian President Luis Arce said he would be willing to devise lithium policies together with other Latin American countries for the benefit of their economies. "We must be
united in the market, in a sovereign manner, with prices that benefit our economies, and one way, already proposed by President (of Mexico) Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, is to think about a kind of lithium OPEC," Arce said at the time in La Paz.

The goal is for Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, and Peru to position themselves as "potential promoters of new forms of energy storage that will enable the overcoming of the use of fossil fuels", he added. Arce expressed concern about foreign interference in lithium dealings, particularly from the United States. "We do not want our lithium to be in the crosshairs of Southern Command, nor do we want it to be a reason for the destabilization of democratically elected governments or foreign harassment," he said.

Governments, mining companies, battery markets, and automakers worldwide are scrambling for supplies of the metal, which is essential for many batteries used in electric vehicles. The demand for lithium, used in rechargeable batteries for cars and electronics, pushed battery metal prices to around $85,000 per ton at the end of last year.