Bolivian Government Signed off on a Deal With Hong Kong CBC To Build 2 Lithium Processing Plants in Uyuni

The lithium is in Uyuni, which already suffers from acute fresh water shortage, but the processing of the lithium is going to require a lot more fresh water. See this piece by Marco A. Gandarillas for Latinoamérica Sustentable: El caso del contrato de Hong Kong CBC para la explotación de litio en el Salar de Uyuni.

En febrero de 2025, el Corregimiento de la Comunidad de Río Grande advirtió que la extracción de litio contemplada en el contrato con Hong Kong CBC requerirá agua dulce procedente de la cuenca San Gerónimo, ubicada en su jurisdicción. Esta área ya enfrenta problemas debido a la sobreexplotación de agua subterránea y la intensificación de la desertificación, exacerbados por actividades previas de YLB. En 2024, la comunidad había advertido sobre la realización de nuevos pozos por YLB para beneficio del consorcio Hong Kong CBC. Paralelamente, la Central Única Provincial de Comunidades Originarias de Nor Lipez (CUPCONL) declaró su rechazo a este contrato argumentando que viola el derecho constitucional a la Consulta Previa en su territorio (resolución 01/2025 del 16 de febrero). 

These Russia/China lithium deals were being talked about while Evo Morales was still in power in 2018. There was a bit of theater shown on Bolivia TV in 2013 about a research centre in Potosí developing lithium production and manufacturing technology with help from Iran, but nothing came of that. See this piece in The Upstream Journal dated May 22, 2018: Bolivia’s massive supply of lithium, and the implications for the local community of Potosi:

A regional group promoting the rights of indigenous workers, the Federación regional única de trabajadores campesinos del Altiplano Sur (FRUTCAS), first approached the Bolivian government in 2007 with a proposal to launch lithium development in Potosi. The one requirement was that the project remain 100% state-owned so the region could directly benefit from economic and infrastructural investment. ...

Since then, the MAS government has spent over $400 million financing the project. The first phase installed a pilot plant west of Uyuni, in Colcha K, a municipality of several cantons with some 10,000 Quecha people, to test methods of recovering lithium carbonate from the Salar brine. The project has been stalled in this stage, producing only industrial quality lithium instead of the more refined battery quality. The plan was for the second phase to industrialize and expand past the pilot plant, and then finally manufacture value-added goods like batteries and cathodes. 

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