Bolivia’s White Gold
Did you know that Bolivia has the largest Lithium reserves in the world? I didn’t know that!
In October 2010 President Evo Morales announced that Bolivia would use its own resources to begin mining the ccountry’s lithium.Unlike the other two salt mines in South America, Bolivia does not want its lithium to fall into the hands of foreign companies. Apparently the Bolivian government will oversee and finance the entire process and has obtained $885 million dollars in loans from its central bank.
When President Evo Morales took office, his government nationalized the hydrocarbon industry. This measure created many concerns and complaints from abroad.
Bolivia is not ready to develop this industry on its own, and rather than bow to foreign investment , the country’s leaders prefer to wait until they can exploit the mining of the lithium alone.
“They need to make strategic agreements with spearheading countries and companies, which will permit Bolivia to sell their resources in exchange for technology,” says economist Roberto Laserna. “Not just impose conditions.”
Apparently scholars say it would take Bolivia a long time to build its own technology, because in spite of what the government of Bolivia says, the country lacks engineers and scientists. Luis Alberto Echazu, the national director for evaporitic resources at the state-owned mining corporation, Corporacion Minera de Bolivia, denies this claim, and defends the government. According to Echazu, the administration has already started training hundreds of professionals, through scholarships for foreign universities.
Bolivia plans to have its electric car battery sector fully developed by 2020 and Bolivia will have developed its industry by then.
