German lithium offensive: access to the world's largest reserves
(Berliner Morgenpost)
It is a first: a German company is gaining large-scale access to lithium reserves — the world's largest are believed to lie in a salt lake in Bolivia. The German government is counting on this to get battery production for electric cars under way.
Bolivia and Germany's ACI Systems Alemania GmbH form a lithium joint venture
The state-owned company Yacimientos de Litio Bolivianos (YLB) and the German company ACI Systems yesterday signed the document establishing the public company YLB-ACISA-EM, which starts the third phase of the national project at the Salar de Uyuni, focused on the industrialization of lithium.
The ceremony establishing the new entity — Yacimientos de Litio Bolivianos (YLB) and ACI Systems Alemania – Joint Venture (YLB-ACISA-EM) — took place yesterday in Berlin under Supreme Decree 3738. It was attended by Bolivia's Foreign Minister Diego Pary, Energy Minister Rafael Alarcón and YLB general manager Juan Carlos Montenegro, together with Germany's Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Peter Altmaier and ACI Systems CEO Wolfgang Schmutz, as the Bolivian Foreign Ministry announced.
The agreement provides for the creation of two subsidiary public companies, to be founded in 2019: one for the production of lithium salts and one for cathode materials and batteries.
Minister Pary emphasised the cooperation between Bolivia and Germany on ambitious strategic projects such as the Bioceanic Railway Corridor, the purchase of machinery for power plants and the development of lithium industrialization. “Today Bolivia is the fastest-growing country in South America,” he said.
In April, Bolivia chose the German company ACI Systems as its strategic partner for the third phase of the project at Uyuni, Potosí, which will require an investment of around US$1.3 billion.
Energy Minister Alarcón explained that the Bolivian state had made significant progress in the industrialization of its evaporitic resources: the pilot stage has been completed and the second phase is now being consolidated with the industrial potassium chloride plant already in operation. Construction of the industrial lithium carbonate plant, due for completion next year, is currently under way. “Today we are beginning a new phase in Bolivia, because we are working to be partners and not simply to hand over our natural resources,” he stressed.
The Vice-Minister for High Energy Technologies, Alberto Echazú, said the joint venture is an important step towards starting the third phase of the project, in which the state holds the majority stake (51%). The investment by YLB-ACISA-EM amounts to US$300 million.