YLB negotiating contracts for Bolivian industrial lithium plants with Chinese firms

Bolivian state-owned lithium company YLB began negotiations with Chinese companies CBC and Citic Guoan Group for contracts that will enable the installation of industrial lithium production plants with direct extraction (DLE) technology in the Uyuni and Coipasa salt flats.

Negotiations over the contracts were launched a few days ago in China.

“We made a trip to China to begin negotiations with two of the largest and most representative companies in that country, CBC and CITIC, with whom we have signed agreements,” Karla Calderón, president of YLB, said in a statement, adding that the contracts should be ready in the coming months.

Once the negotiations between YLB and the Chinese firms are completed, they must be reported to and approved by the national assembly.

Experts believe it is unlikely that the assembly will approve the contracts due to the current political fragmentation in the legislative body and the fact that general elections will be held in the country next year.

In a recent interview with BNamericas, Sebastián Fernández de Soto, an analyst at Control Risks, an international consultancy firm specializing in global risks, underscored that scaling up pilot DLE projects to industrial operations is seen as a long way off.

CBC and Citic Guoan Group, together with Russia's Uranium One Group, were selected last year n YLB's first international call to develop pilot plants that would later be expanded to industrial production with the technology.

Last month, Calderon reported that Citic Guoan was conducting final testingof a pilot plant.

Meanwhile, a second international tender for the development of pilot projects to produce lithium and other minerals in seven of the country's 28 salt flats is still underway.

The salt flats involved are Uyuni, Coipasa, Pastos Grandes, Capina, Cañapa, Chiguana and Empexa, located in Oruro and Potosí departments.

The proposals received have been divided into three areas of interest: direct extraction of lithium in virgin brine, direct extraction in residual brine and other technologies to provide services such as treated water for the development of DLE technology in residual brine and virgin brine.

YLB said it is currently carrying out negotiations with 10 companies that have passed initial selection.

Additionally, President Luis Arce's government expects that, in November, Indian company Altmin will implement the final phase of a pilot plant to manufacture lithium-ion batteries in La Palca community, Potosí department.

The company will apply its LFP-C technology to the production of cathode material using the lithium carbonate produced by YLB. It will also provide the equipment and supplies for the installation and will be responsible for assembly and commissioning.

Cathode production test results should be ready by the end of December.

YLB plans to begin negotiations with the Indian company in 2025 for the construction of an industrial-scale cathode plant.

At the moment, YLB has a plant to extract lithium in its industrial complex in the Uyuni salt flat, which uses traditional evaporitic technology, but it only operates at 30% of the capacity for which it was designed, which is why it is looking for alternatives to increase production.

That plant, which began operations in December 2023, should produce about 3,000t of lithium carbonate this year.

Bolivia has the largest lithium resources in the world, estimated at around 21Mt (million tons), according to the US Geological Survey. However, production remains minimal.

Arce's government has promised to make Bolivia one of the top world suppliers of lithium, a metal needed for the global energy transition due to its high energy density and lightweight properties. However, little progress has been made so far due to a series of factors, including technical and political problems, social conflicts and corruption.

According to Bolivian legislation, the State participates in the entire production chain, from the extraction, industrialization and marketing of lithium.