Morales visited Moscow for talks with President Vladimir Putin in June, pointing to Bolivian GAS and LITHIUM as areas for cooperation.

COMMODITIESNOVEMBER 3, 2019 / 7:15 PM / 9 DAYS AGO
Bolivia's lithium partnership with Germany's ACI Systems hits snag
2 MIN READ
LA PAZ () - Bolivia’s partnership with privately owned German company ACI Systems for the industrial use of lithium hit a snag when the decree that created the deal was annulled, the governor of the lithium-rich Potosi region said on Sunday.

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Last Edited by {/Mutariel\} on 11/13/2019 03:44 AM

Chinese Companies To Exploit Bolivian Lithium
By Julieta Pelcastre / Diálogo
November 07, 2019

In late September, the Bolivian government, through its state-owned company Yacimientos de Litio, partnered with the Chinese company Xinjiang TBEA Group Baocheng to set up new lithium carbonate processing plants, now in the salt flats of Pastos Grandes and Coipasa, in Potosí and Oruro departments, with a $2.4 billion investment. According to the agreement, Bolivia will hold 51 percent of stocks and operations will start in 2021.

“[We want to] help the industrialization of companies, such as the metallurgic and chemical industries to make Bolivia’s energy and industrial dream come true,” Chinese Ambassador to Bolivia Liang Yu told the press. “By 2025, China will need 800,000 tons of lithium per year.”

The Chinese project includes the construction of five plants that will produce 146,000 annual tons of metallic lithium, lithium hydroxide, boric acid, pure bromide, and sodium bromide, as shown in a video of the Bolivian Ministry of Energies. Lithium, a fine, silver-white powder that can be found in brines (water with high salt concentrations), is used to make rechargeable batteries for electronic devices and electric vehicles, and in manufacturing ceramic, glass, and aluminum.

“By [controlling] 63 percent of the battery market, China is the main consumer of lithium carbonate in the world,” Ingrid Garcés, a professor at the University of Antofagasta, Chile, told Chilean newspaper El Clarín. The Bolivian government said that the country has 21 million metric tons of the alkaline metal, which means that Bolivia might have the largest lithium reserve in the world.

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Published on
Monday, November 11, 2019
byCommon Dreams
Bolivian Coup Comes Less Than a Week After Morales Stopped Multinational Firm's Lithium Deal
"Bolivia's lithium belongs to the Bolivian people. Not to multinational corporate cabals."
byEoin Higgins, staff writer

The Sunday military coup in Bolivia has put in place a government which appears likely to reverse a decision by just-resigned President Evo Morales to cancel an agreement with a German company for developing lithium deposits in the Latin American country for batteries like those in electric cars.

"Bolivia's lithium belongs to the Bolivian people," tweeted Washington Monthly contributor David Atkins. "Not to multinational corporate cabals."

The coup, which on Sunday resulted in Morales resigning and going into hiding, was the result of days of protests from right-wing elements angry at the leftist Morales government. Sen. Jeanine Añez, of the center-right party Democratic Unity, is currently the interim president in the unstable post-coup government in advance of elections.

Investment analyst publisher Argus urged investors to keep an eye on the developing situation and noted that gas and oil production from foreign companies in Bolivia had remained steady.

The Morales move on Nov. 4 to cancel the December 2018 agreement with Germany's ACI Systems Alemania (ACISA) came after weeks of protests from residents of the Potosí area. The region has 50% to 70% of the world's lithium reserves in the Salar de Uyuni salt flats.

Among other clients, ACISA provides batteries to Tesla; Tesla's stock rose Monday after the weekend.

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Protests in Chile, Bolivia threaten India’s search for assets in 'Lithium Triangle'

11TH NOVEMBER 2019

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