Bolivia, SKorea deal on Lithium

Bolivia: Bolivia and South Korea signed a letter of intent putting the Asian country as the main and possible partner of the Andean nation in a megaproject to exploit and industrialize Bolivian lithium reserves.

According to a report by daily Cambio, official sources confirmed that the South Korean part is the first to recognize Bolivia as a potential partner in the mining project that covers lithium resources in the Salar de Uyuni region.

Also, it respects and supports the decision of the South American country to execute all the plan, taking into account the industrialization phase of the Uyuni lithium, whose reserves represent 50 percent of those existing in the world. The Minister of Mining, Luis Alberto Echazu, extolled the interest of South Korea in being a part of the Bolivian mining projects contributing investment and technological support.

Previously, the Evo Morales administration issued a supreme decree for the industrial exploitation of lithium in the Salar de Uyuni, supported by an investment of 5.7 million dollars.

According to official data of the state Corporacion Minera de Bolivia (Comibol) it is estimated that the vast plateau contains 10 billion tons of salt, from which each year are extracted 25 thousand tons of lithium. La Paz, Prensa Latina