Bolivia aims to industrialize the short-term lithium PDF Print E-Mail

La Paz, Oct 31 (Prensa Latina) The Bolivian government plans to invest 400 million dollars to install an industrial complex of lithium and other resources in the saline evaporitic de Uyuni (Potosí), whose infrastructure will constitute one of the largest in the world.

According to president of Mining, Freddy Beltran, quoted by the daily changes, the project is 100 percent state and its design will begin in 2010.

Beltran's statements took place in the third day of the First International Forum on Science and Technology for Industrialization of Lithium Resources and evaporites, which involves researchers from 14 countries.

Today is completing the construction of the pilot plant in the town of Entre Rios, south of the Salar de Uyuni, with an investment of over 8 million.

"This entity will give us the size of the plant, and we have only an overall estimate of what could be the cost, we talk about $ 400 million," said Beltran.

He stressed that thanks to good economic management of the Government, there are conditions for such investment.

With this advancement, allowing the production of lithium carbonate scale, the Executive expects Bolivia in 2015 generated about 50 thousand tons of product per year.

Beltran also anticipated the implementation of another manufacturing plant to obtain the potassium salt Coipasa in Oruro.

Next to the industrial complex will be set up production plants of sulfur, potassium chloride, borax, lithium carbonate and magnesium.

The estimated annual profits from the sale of these products skirted the $ 500 million, as announced Thursday by President Evo Morales during his visit to Uyuni.

According to projections by the National Resource Management evaporites future industrial plant will house a thousand 500 workers directly.

Bolivia's lithium reserves, estimated at about 100 million tons, has drawn interest from several foreign companies including Bollore, France, Japan's Sumitomo and Mitsubishi, General Motors and the other from Russia, India and South Korea .

All those companies seeking to exploit the metal, widely used in batteries for mobile phones, digital cameras and laptops, among other electronic equipment.