Bolivia signs $1 billion lithium deal with China's CBC Investments

Bolivia's government Nov. 26 signed a $1 billion contract with China's CBC Investments to build two lithium carbonate plants, as the Andean country looks to tap the world's largest lithium reserves.

The two plants, with a combined capacity of 35,000 mt/year, will be built at the Salar de Uyuni salt flats in the southern highland Potosí department by CBC, a subsidiary of battery manufacturer CATL, Minister Alejandro Gallardo said.

The plants, with Bolivian state lithium company YLB as a 51% partner, will operate with 80% recovery rates using direct lithium extraction (DLE) technology, Gallardo said at a broadcast ceremony at the Presidential Palace in La Paz.

"It hasn't been easy, it's been months of negotiations. Bolivia is dealing with the biggest players," Bolivia's President Luis Arce said at the ceremony. "This contract represents an advantage."

The contract comes after Russia's Uranium One last year signed an agreement to invest up to $450 million in its own 14,000 mt/year lithium carbonate plant at Uyuni, while YLB also inaugurated its own 15,000 mt/year lithium carbonate plant in December 2023.

President Arce urged the country's Opposition-controlled Congress, which has delayed approval of hundreds of millions of dollars in mining and hydrocarbons contracts by over a year, to sign off on the contract as soon as possible to enable the project to get started.

Bolivia has a total of 23 million mt in lithium reserves at its Uyuni, Coipasa and Pastos Grandes salt flats, according to the Energy Ministry.

Bolivia's minerals exports, which are allocated mainly to India, Japan, China and South Korea, fell 15% to an estimated $5.7 billion in 2023 due to lower metals prices, according to the National Statistics Institute.