By Rhod Mackenzie

The amount of investments in the project to create a lithium complex of Rosatom in Bolivia will be approximately $600 million.

This was announced by the first deputy head of the state corporation Kirill Komarov. “For Rosatom, this is the first large-scale foreign project in the field of lithium production, investments in which will amount to about $600 million,” the press service of Rosatom quotes the words of a top manager commenting on the signing of a framework agreement between the Bolivian state lithium company YLB and Uranium One, part of the Russian state corporation. The document provides for the construction of an industrial complex for the extraction and processing of lithium carbonate with a capacity of 25 thousand tons per year in the Potosi department in the southwest of the Latin American republic, with the possibility of increasing the capacity based on the results of geological exploration.

Bolivia's lithium resources are currently estimated at 21 million tons, or 21.4% of the world's reserves of this metal, Rosatom notes; at the same time, lithium mining on an industrial scale in the country is not currently being conducted. In this regard, the government of Bolivia has developed a program to attract foreign partners to participate in the industrialization of the republic's lithium industry; The authorized state company YLB held a competition among foreign participants who presented their technological solutions. As a result, partners were selected for the construction of industrial complexes for the extraction and production of lithium carbonate in the Bolivian salars of Uyuni, Coipas and Pastos Grandes. It is planned to launch lithium production at the end of next year.

The Russian technology for the sorption extraction of lithium from hydromineral media (salars) demonstrates a high lithium recovery rate - about 90%, the state corporation specifies. “A distinctive feature of the Russian technology is the sorbent, which has shown an advantage in some key parameters compared to others. The technology does not depend on climatic conditions, the technological process is fully automated, ”the project description on its website indicates.

Rosatom is consistently developing cooperation with Bolivia, the company emphasizes. In particular, a project is being implemented to build in El Alto a unique for the continent Center for Nuclear Research and Technology, which opens up wide opportunities for the country to use nuclear technologies in healthcare, the agro-industrial complex and other areas.

According to Bolivian President Luis Arce, the country aims to provide up to 40% of the world's lithium supply by 2030. Australia is currently the world's largest lithium producer (55%), followed by Chile (26%), China (14%) and Argentina (6%)

This article orginally appeared in Russian at expert.ru