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The countrys government plans to invest more than 1,330 million Bolivians to industrialize lithium in the Salar de Coipasa de Oruro.
The Government of Bolivia announces that it plans to invest more than 1,330 million Bolivians (188 million dollars) to quantify the lithium resources that exist in the Salar de Coipasa, Oruro, and then build an Industrial Plant for Direct Lithium Extraction (EDL) to produce lithium carbonate or lithium hydroxide. The EDL system allows to accelerate and optimize the industrialization process of this evaporite resource, it has higher performance than the current method and less environmental impact.
Once the EDL technology with which Yacimientos de Litio Bolivianos (YLB) will work is defined at the end of May, it is estimated that the construction of the EDL Industrial Plant will begin before the end of 2022. The cost of this work will be approximately 1,322 million bolivianos.
For this, a study is currently being carried out in order to quantify the lithium resources in said salt desert, with an investment of around 10 million Bolivians. With this quantification, Bolivias lithium reserves will increase and exceed the current 21 million metric tons it has in the Salar de Uyuni, Potosí. The country has the largest quantified evaporite resources in the world in the Uyuni salt flat, in Potosí, and ventured into the industrialization of these resources in 2013, through evaporation pools, which allowed it to start with the production of potassium chloride , carbonate lithium and even lithium cathodes and batteries on a pilot scale.
EDL technology makes it possible to reduce the time in which lithium is separated and optimize the extraction of this and other metals found in brines, as well as reduce the environmental impact.
Bolivia will inaugurate an industrial-scale lithium carbonate plant this year : Currently, companies from China, Russia, the United States and Argentina are carrying out pilot projects with brines from the Uyuni, Pastos Grandes and Coipasa salt flats. These 8 companies will present the preliminary results of their samples with EDL application at the end of April. |
