Photograph: Martin Bernetti/AFP/Getty Images This technique is less suited to conditions in Bolivia. In neighbouring countries, lithium is extracted by pumping brine into ponds and processing the lithium salts that crystallise once the water has evaporated, such as at this facility in Chile. The Bolivian state has invested roughly $800m in this method, with a grid of ponds and an unfinished plant that it says will begin producing 15,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate per annum starting this year.

The typical method to extract lithium involves pumping brine into ponds and processing the lithium salts that crystallise once the water has evaporated.

Throughout, the Mas has insisted on sovereign control of Bolivia’s lithium, with the state trying to develop it alone, or with limited input from foreign companies. The Mas has governed for all but one year since, including the current administration. “Today begins the era of industrialisation of Bolivian lithium,” said President Luis Arce, when the new deal was announced.īolivia first declared its intent to industrialise its lithium shortly after former president Evo Morales led the Movimiento al Socialismo (Mas) to power in 2006. But Bolivia may yet have time to join the market while high prices last. It is yet to extract significant quantities of the metal. And according to the United States Geological Service, Bolivia has 21m tonnes of lithium: more than any other country in the world. Surging demand for lithium has caused prices to increase more than 10-fold since 2020, to record highs of almost $85,000 per tonne.

Uyuni salt flat