Can Bolivia Ever Gain From Its Rich Lithium Resources?
2022-05-25
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1Bolivia's government is planning this month to sell rights to mine in the country for the element lithium.
2Officials hope the move will bring economic growth in the country's southwest.
3The project is the South American country's most ambitious yet to provide lithium to the world market.
4The metal is in high demand for use in electric car batteries and electronic devices.
5America's Tesla and Germany's Volkswagen are struggling to find supplies while lithium prices have sharply increased.
6But it remains unclear if Bolivia can meet its goals.
7Reuters news agency spoke to many current and former officials and local people around Salar de Uyuni, a dry lake bottom, in the southwestern part of the country.
8These people identified a number of barriers to the big project, including legal questions, technological issues and resistance from citizens.
9In addition, there are likely to be political disagreements within Bolivia's ruling socialist party over taxes and how to divide profits from the project.
10Bolivia expects to announce later this month one or more partnerships with foreign companies.
11Eight competitors from China, Russia, Argentina and the United States are making financial offers, or bids.
12Reuters says none of the companies have experience in commercial mining of lithium.
13The South American country has set a high goal.
14It seeks to make lithium-ion batteries locally by 2025.
15Bolivia's neighbor Chile has been seeking the same goal for years without success, however.
16And it is a far wealthier country.
17Juan Tellez is an advisor to the local governor.
18He said official do not expect any production until 2030 or five years behind the central government's plan.
19The U.S. geological survey estimates that Bolivia has about one fourth of the world's known lithium resources.
20But it remains unclear if the metal can be recovered commercially.
21Bolivia has spent hundreds of millions of dollars using traditional methods to extract lithium with little success.
22For this project, President Luis Arce wants contracts with companies that use a different, and untested, technology called "direct lithium extraction."
23The list of companies willing to try includes the U.S. companies Lilac Solutions, Breakthrough Energy and EnergyX.
24Others include Argentina's Tecpetrol, Russia's Uranium One, and China's Fusion Enertech, CITIC Guoan Group and TBEA.
25Arce's government is allied with Russia and China.
26But U.S. officials say they believe the two American companies have a fair chance.
27Alvaro Arnez is a deputy minister in Bolivia's energy department.
28He oversees lithium development. He says it is important for the government to produce results to show that it is serious.
29Salar de Uyuni is not too far from Potosí, a colonial center for silver production for the Spanish Empire.
30Now it is an area where the ruling socialist party has strong support.
31But local officials criticized the current president for trying to control lithium production without their approval.
32"We don't even have a channel to express our opinion," said advisor Tellez, adding: "We are finding out (decisions) through the press."
33Deputy minister Arnez said the Bolivian government has proposed creating business partnerships to extract lithium and manufacture batteries.
34The government would own 51 percent and get about half the profits from the ventures.
35To do this, however, Bolivia has to amend its laws which bar foreign companies from extracting lithium.
36Local government officials want to use this fact to negotiate a greater share of the profits.
37They want 15 percent instead of the three percent they would get under current law.
38The town of Uyuni gives the huge dry lake bottom its name.
39Eusebio Lopez said that, "as owners of these riches," the people living there should get the greatest gain from the project.
40A state lithium extracting plant in the area employs 700 people, but few come from local communities.
41"We have minerals, we have lithium," said Uyuni villager Karina Quispe, adding: "The people here should receive something."
42Juan Carlos Montenegro is a former government lithium mining official who served under former president Evo Morales.
43He warned that people are too excited.
44"It's not grounded in reality," he added.
45I'm Mario Ritter Jr. And I'm Caty Weaver.
1Bolivia's government is planning this month to sell rights to mine in the country for the element lithium. Officials hope the move will bring economic growth in the country's southwest. 2The project is the South American country's most ambitious yet to provide lithium to the world market. The metal is in high demand for use in electric car batteries and electronic devices. 3America's Tesla and Germany's Volkswagen are struggling to find supplies while lithium prices have sharply increased. 4But it remains unclear if Bolivia can meet its goals. 5Reuters news agency spoke to many current and former officials and local people around Salar de Uyuni, a dry lake bottom, in the southwestern part of the country. 6These people identified a number of barriers to the big project, including legal questions, technological issues and resistance from citizens. In addition, there are likely to be political disagreements within Bolivia's ruling socialist party over taxes and how to divide profits from the project. 7Bolivia expects to announce later this month one or more partnerships with foreign companies. Eight competitors from China, Russia, Argentina and the United States are making financial offers, or bids. Reuters says none of the companies have experience in commercial mining of lithium. 8The South American country has set a high goal. It seeks to make lithium-ion batteries locally by 2025. 9Bolivia's neighbor Chile has been seeking the same goal for years without success, however. And it is a far wealthier country. 10Juan Tellez is an advisor to the local governor. He said official do not expect any production until 2030 or five years behind the central government's plan. 11The U.S. geological survey estimates that Bolivia has about one fourth of the world's known lithium resources. But it remains unclear if the metal can be recovered commercially. 12That past is the past 13Bolivia has spent hundreds of millions of dollars using traditional methods to extract lithium with little success. For this project, President Luis Arce wants contracts with companies that use a different, and untested, technology called "direct lithium extraction." 14The list of companies willing to try includes the U.S. companies Lilac Solutions, Breakthrough Energy and EnergyX. Others include Argentina's Tecpetrol, Russia's Uranium One, and China's Fusion Enertech, CITIC Guoan Group and TBEA. 15Arce's government is allied with Russia and China. But U.S. officials say they believe the two American companies have a fair chance. 16Alvaro Arnez is a deputy minister in Bolivia's energy department. He oversees lithium development. He says it is important for the government to produce results to show that it is serious. 17Salar de Uyuni is not too far from Potosí, a colonial center for silver production for the Spanish Empire. Now it is an area where the ruling socialist party has strong support. But local officials criticized the current president for trying to control lithium production without their approval. 18"We don't even have a channel to express our opinion," said advisor Tellez, adding: "We are finding out (decisions) through the press." 19Deputy minister Arnez said the Bolivian government has proposed creating business partnerships to extract lithium and manufacture batteries. The government would own 51 percent and get about half the profits from the ventures. 20To do this, however, Bolivia has to amend its laws which bar foreign companies from extracting lithium. Local government officials want to use this fact to negotiate a greater share of the profits. They want 15 percent instead of the three percent they would get under current law. 21The town of Uyuni gives the huge dry lake bottom its name. Eusebio Lopez said that, "as owners of these riches," the people living there should get the greatest gain from the project. 22A state lithium extracting plant in the area employs 700 people, but few come from local communities. 23"We have minerals, we have lithium," said Uyuni villager Karina Quispe, adding: "The people here should receive something." 24Juan Carlos Montenegro is a former government lithium mining official who served under former president Evo Morales. He warned that people are too excited. "It's not grounded in reality," he added. 25I'm Mario Ritter Jr. And I'm Caty Weaver. 26Reuters news agency reported this story. Mario Ritter Jr. adapted it for VOA Learning English. 27_______________________________________________________________________ 28Words in This Story 29ambitious -adj. having the desire to be successful, powerful and famous 30battery -n. a device that stores electricity to run equipment 31commercial -adj. used for business purposes 32extract -v. to take a specific substance from a material by use of machines or a chemical process 33channel -n. a way of expressing ideas, opinions 34We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.