Industrial lithium project in the Salar de Pastos Grandes will use energy from geothermal wells

Statement Ministry of Hydrocarbons and Energy of Bolivia

This is an automated translation of the press release issued in Spanish

The lithium carbonate industrial plant of the Salar de Pastos Grandes , located in Potosí, will take advantage of the energy from geothermal wells, said the Minister of Hydrocarbons and Energy, Franklin Molina Ortiz, referring to the project that will be developed by the Russian company Uranium One Group . subsidiary of the giant Rosaton.

Last week, Yacimientos de Litio Bolivianos (YLB) signed an agreement with the Russian company Uranium One Group to install a lithium carbonate industrial complex in the Pastos Grandes salt flat, with an investment of US$575 million and an annual capacity of production of 25,000 tons.

Molina explained that the Uranium One Group company has significant experience in lithium and in the nuclear field, and an important aspect of the agreement is that a yield above 95 percent was achieved in the place where the project will be developed.

Likewise, Molina pointed out that the investment, in relation to the Chinese company CITIC GUOAN ($us 857 million), is less because Uranium One Group will take advantage of the efficiency of the process through the use of the water steam that comes out of the geothermal wells and the energy generated in the extraction process. That is where the levels of technical and economic efficiency of the project are determined, he added.

The Uranium One Group company is responsible for the implementation of projects abroad, in the field of uranium mining, as well as non-ferrous and rare metals, its website read.

Based on Russian Direct Extraction of Lithium (EDL) technology, the company will implement the project with the best engineering solutions and production competencies of the Rosatom organizations and the technological know-how of leading Russian industrial companies, the company says.