LatinNews Daily - 22 August 2019

* Bolivia’s state-owned mining firm Yacimientos de Litio Boliviano (YLB) and the Chinese private consortium TBEA Group-Baocheng have signed a joint venture to build a lithium carbonate facility, as part of the on-going industrialisation of the salt flats at Pastos Grandes and Coipasa, in the departments of Potosí and Oruro, respectively. Bolivia’s energy minister, Rafael Alarcón, told reporters that YLB has a 51% stake in the venture and that its aim is to mine the evaporite resources from the salt flats for the direct benefit to the Bolivian people. Additionally, Alarcón outlined that the Bolivian state believes that the Chinese consortium’s experience will allow for higher quality lithium carbonate to be extracted. Deputy minister of high energy technologies, Luis Alberto Echazú, noted that the total investment costs will be US$2.39bn, for the mining of both salt flats.

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