Bolivia’s YLB Names Four Potential Partners for Large-Scale Lithium Projects
Bolivia’s state-owned company Yacimientos de Litio Boliviano (YLB) has identified four potential partners to collaborate on large-scale lithium projects in the country. The companies vying for the opportunity include China's CBC, Italy's Protecno, France's Eramet, and Australia's Eau Lithium. These firms are currently engaged in negotiations with YLB, each offering unique proposals to tap into Bolivia’s lithium resources.
YLB is proposing to develop projects at seven of the country’s 28 high-altitude salt lakes, which hold vast lithium reserves. CBC is promoting its proprietary technology, while Protecno emphasizes its water purification capabilities, suggesting that purified water from lithium production could be used by local communities. Eramet and Eau Lithium both propose the use of direct lithium extraction (DLE) technology, which could reduce production costs, though Western sources note that DLE has yet to be widely commercialized.
Challenges in Bolivia’s lithium sector are significant, with experts pointing to the country’s more humid climate, which complicates the evaporation of brine used in lithium extraction—unlike in Chile and Argentina. Additionally, Bolivia’s brine contains more impurities, and all projects must gain approval from local communities and parliament, potentially causing delays.
Despite these hurdles, Bolivia opened its first lithium plant in 2023, which aims to produce 15,000 tons of lithium carbonate equivalent annually by 2025. In 2024, the country signed project agreements totaling $1.4 billion with Chinese companies CBC and Citic Guoan, as well as Russia’s Uranium One Group. YLB plans to further increase its lithium production capacity to 50,000 tons of lithium carbonate equivalent annually.
