Livent Corp (LTHM)

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Bringing Bolivia’s supply to market would help lithium miners who have so far struggled to match global demand. Top producers FMC Corp. and Albemarle Corp. in the U.S., SQM in Chile and Tianqi Lithium Corp. in China are investing billions to expand their existing operations. Even the most experienced are suffering setbacks, with SQM reporting delays and unexpected difficulties in expanding in Chile. Albemarle reported stoppages in its operations in Chile, China and Australia for different reasons during the third quarter.

FMC and South Korea’s steelmaker giant POSCO have in the past attempted to ink deals with Morales’ government that would have set up lithium operations in Uyuni. Those attempts failed, with talks stalling and investors walking out in the face of uncertainty or unreasonable government demands.

Latin America’s poorest nation has had at least 27 different presidents and military juntas rule in the last five decades. President Morales, elected in 2006, is the country’s longest-serving leader and the last of a generation of leftists, including Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, that came to power promising social justice.

Morales nationalized hydrocarbons, Bolivia’s main source of revenue, as well as the electricity grid and telecoms. He vowed to “industrialize with dignity and sovereignty,” promising that raw lithium would not be exploited by foreign corporations but instead processed by state-controlled entities in Bolivia and transformed into batteries. Morales once said he wanted to see “a lithium-powered Toyota made in Bolivia.”

“Bolivia is quite frankly very risky relative to other parts of the world for lithium investment,” said Chris Berry, an analyst and founder of research firm House Mountain Partners LLC. “Investors are concerned with both return on capital and return of capital.”

http://www.mining.com/web/big-lithium-riches-lure-first-time-miner-bolivias-salt-flat/