June 18, 2023, 9:48 PM
June 18, 2023, 9:48 PM
the chinese consortium Catl Brunp & CMOC(CBC) raised its investment commitment to $us 1,400 million for the construction of two production plants with Direct Extraction of Lithium (EDL) technology in the Uyuni (Potosí) and Coipasa (Oruro) salt flats, the Minister of Hydrocarbons and Energies, Franklin Molina, reported this Sunday.
After a meeting with Yu Bo, executive director of the Catl Investment Committee, in which President Luis Arce also participated, Molina said that “this investment marks a milestone in the energy history” of Bolivia and consolidates the country “as a benchmark in the industrialization of lithium, in addition to being a step towards the energy transition with sovereignty”.
On January 20 of this year, Yacimientos del Litio Bolivianos (YLB) signed with ehe Chinese consortium Catl Brunp & CMOCan agreement to consolidate the process of transformation and commercialization of lithium.
President Arce then informed that the new partner of the Bolivian State will invest “$1,000 million” in the implementation of two industrial complexes, ceach one with capacity to produce up to 25,000 tons per year lithium carbonate grade batteryat 99.5% purity. The goal is to export lithium batteries during the first quarter of 2025.
“We are evaluating the progress of these two projects, the possibility of increasing investments to advance more efficiently and optimize production until 2025,” said Molina.
According to information from the Ministry of Hydrocarbons and Energies, In this last meeting, an estimated production of 200,000 tons per year and an investment of up to $us 9,920 million were agreed.
CATL has a 66% stake in the CBC consortium, while Brunp and CMOC have a 34% presence,
Catl is the largest producer of lithium-ion batteries in the world, with a market share of 40.9% as of November 2022. Among its main customers in electromobility are brands such as Porche, Tesla, BMW, Volkswagen, General Motors, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz and Ford.
The strategic ally of the majority partner for the exploitation of lithium and its subsequent industrialization will be COMC, a Chinese mining group with global representation.
The Ministry of Hydrocarbons highlighted that “Catl has the technology to develop the project with less water.” Likewise, he added, this company is aware of the tourist potential of Uyuni, for which “it will work on an engineering of the plant that will not compromise or affect the landscape of the salt flat and will make the infrastructure less visible.
