Bolivia to Start Producing Lithium in October for Export, Minister Says
By Sara Shahriari - Oct 12, 2010 2:02 PM CT
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Bolivia plans to start production of lithium carbonate and potassium chloride for export this month at its pilot plant, Mining Minister Jose Pimentel said.
Government workers will start pumping lithium-bearing liquid, known as brine, into pools at the plant in western Bolivia this month, the minister said. It will take three to four months to separate the metal from the brine, he said.
“We think that in January or February we will have product,” Pimentel said yesterday in an interview in La Paz.
The plant is the first step in the South American country’s bid to industrialize the world’s largest known reserve of lithium. Bolivia is home to about 5.4 million metric tons of lithium, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. That’s enough of the lightest metal to make batteries for more than 4.8 billion electric cars.
Lithium is used to make batteries for portable electronics such as cellular telephones and laptop computers, and will help power electricity-powered cars.
Monthly plant production will be about 40 metric tons of lithium carbonate and 1,000 tons of potassium chloride, he said. Bolivia will export 12,000 tons of potassium chloride and around 500 tons of lithium carbonate in 2011 to the “best market,” Pimentel said.
Bolivia is looking for strategic alliances to further develop lithium projects, the minister said in an interview.
In 2009 Chile was the world’s leading lithium chemical producer and the United States was the leading importer of lithium minerals and compounds, according to a report by the U.S. Geological Survey.
With assistance by Matthew Craze in Santiago. --Editor: Robin Saponar, Dale Crofts
To contact the reporter on this story: Sara Shahriari in La Paz at Or sshahriari@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Joshua Goodman at jgoodman19@bloomberg.net
