The Chinese consortium TBEA Group-Baocheng won the tender for the construction of five plants for the production of potassium sulfate, lithium hydroxide, boric acid and bromine in Bolivia. He managed to bypass three Russian companies, one German and one from Ireland. The cost of each plant is estimated at $ 1.3 billion. It is planned to produce up to 60 thousand tons of lithium hydroxide per year.
The Bolivian authorities have signed an agreement with the leadership of the consortium, which is going to invest $ 2.3 billion in the country's metallurgical production. Chinese Ambassador to Bolivia Lianya Yu said that by 2025 China's demand for lithium will increase to 800 thousand tons.
Plants for the extraction of lithium are planned to be built on large salt marshes located in the west of Bolivia.
The consortium also plans to build a lithium battery plant in China, in which the Bolivian state-owned lithium producer YLB will have a majority stake.
YLB plans to create a joint venture with the German company ACI Systems for the production of lithium.
