INTERVIEW-Bolivia to tap huge lithium deposit in salt lake

Tag : Alkali Metal Mineral
Bolivia - By Eduardo Garcia
LA PAZ (Reuters) - Bolivia is moving ahead with plans to tappotentially huge lithium reserves at Uyuni, the world's biggestsalt lake and one of the country's top tourist attractions, asdemand for lithium-ion batteries surge.
Stretched between distant Andean peaks like a shimmering whitecarpet, the Uyuni salt lake is home to pink flamingos,1,000-year-old cacti, rare hummingbirds and hotels built entirelyfrom blocks of salt.
The lake may also hold one of the world's biggest deposits oflithium, and the government is investing $6 million in a pilotplant to help it figure out the best way to mine the soft alkalimetal used in rechargeable batteries.
A pilot plant currently under construction in Uyuni, which is some12,100 feet high in the Andes, might lead to the construction of a$250 million lithium facility, mining director Freddy Beltran toldReuters late Friday.
Beltran said the extraction of lithium from Uyuni should have onlyminimal environmental impact, but activists are likely to raiseconcerns about the plan.
Leftist President Evo Morales laid the cornerstone of the pilotplant in May this year, which is scheduled to come on stream beforethe end of 2009.
Lithium batteries are used to power laptops, hybrid vehicles andcell phones, and demand could rocket if car makers develop electriccars on a big scale.
The mining ministry says Uyuni, in the central Potosi region, holdsat least 9 million tonnes of lithium.
Beltran said the progress of the plan will depend on the finalinvestment, the success of the pilot project and demand for lithiumproducts.
"We think we need an investment of approximately $250 million forthe industrial plant. We are going to produce some 2,000 tonnes oflithium carbonate (per year), but that will depend."
Beltran said that a number of mining companies, chiefly France'sBollore and Japan's Mitsubishi (other-otc: MSBHY.PK - news - people ) and Sumitomo are pushing for contracts to set up lithium plantsin Uyuni.
The companies want to mine lithium and export it as a raw material,said Beltran, whereas the Bolivian government wants to producelithium hydroxide, lithium chloride, metallic lithium and evenbatteries in the Andean country so they can generate jobs andmaximize revenue from the mineral.
Beltran said the government is in talks but not yet near reachingan agreement with any of the companies and that they need to"advance" their proposals if they want to tap into Uyuni's lithiumreserves.
"Maybe the state could have (at some point) the capacity to investthe $250 million to build the plant," said Beltran.
Argentina, Chile and Bolivia are thought to have most of theworld's lithium deposits. (Reporting by Eduardo Garcia; editing byPav Jordan and Jim Marshall) Copyright 2008 Reuters, Click for Restriction
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