8 Ways To Find The Best Web Design Agencies For Your…A lithium plant is using untested equipment and potentially mismanaging its use of freshwater, raising concerns for residents about whether the Bolivian government can responsibly manage the rapid growth of the industry.
Bolivia is racing to attract foreign investment in its massive, untapped lithium reserves, with plans to expand operations and build new processing plants. But residents living near the lithium deposits say there are too many problems with the facilities already in operation. Last month, several activist groups and senators toured the lithium processing facilities run by the state-owned Yacimientos de Litio Bolivianos , the China Machinery Engineering Corporation and Beijing Maison Engineering Co. They discovered equipment that still wasn’t operational and found that officials were unsure how much water, electricity and chemicals they were using.
During the inspection, they found that the potassium chloride plant was operating at less than 30% capacity. It’s supposed to produce 350,000 tons per year but has only managed to produce around 80,000 tons. “The lithium carbonate industrial plant represents an enormous failure of management for a project that is vital to the economic development of the country,” organizations who toured the facilities said in aThe sophisticated technology that lithium extraction requires can’t be done by Bolivia alone, but the government also wants to ensure the industry isn’t overwhelmed by foreign entities.