Bolivia state-owned Yacimientos de Litio Boliviano has shortlisted four companies to advance into the next phase of a bid to develop pilot lithium extraction plants in the country’s salt flats.
CBC submitted a plan to extract lithium from residual brine through the adsorption method. Protecno put forward a proposal to treat wastewater from existing plants, which could be used to supply nearby communities, as well as well water. Eramet and Eau Lithium presented their own strategy to mine the battery metal using Direct Lithium Extraction from well brine, YLB said.
Following the completion of such procedures and the conclusion of contract negotiations between YLB and Chinese firms already involved in the local market, the agreements must be submitted to the legislative assembly for approval. While the country and YLB are focusing on DLE as the cornerstone of its industrial strategy, market experts caution that the technology remains underdeveloped for large-scale industrial application.admitted to relatively poor resultsEvaporation ponds work well enough in the salt flats of neighbouring Chile and Argentina, but seems less suited to Bolivia, where the brine has high levels of impurities and the salt flats have a rainy season that lasts several months.