Lithium sparks a battle for power

The state wants to exploit its lucrative reserves, a key component in producing car batteries but at what price?

- By Thomas Graham R10 GRANDE

Bolivia's salt flats have long been a tourist draw. But in recent years visitors may have glimpsed excavators on the horizon - a hint of the industrial future that awaits. The brine beneath the salt flats contains lithium, essential for electric batteries. Last month, Bolivia announced it would partner with a Chinese consortium to extract it, reviving dreams of a lithium-powered economy. Surging demand for lithium has caused prices to increase more than 10-fold since 2020, to record highs of almost $85,000 per tonne. And according to the United States Geological Survey, Bolivia has 21m tonnes of the metal, more than any other country in the world. It is yet to extract a significant quantity, but the country may yet have time to join the market while high prices last.

"Today begins the era of industrialisation of Bolivian lithium," said President Luis Arce, when the new deal was announced. "There's no time to lose," he added.

Bolivia first declared its intent to industrialise its lithium shortly after former president Evo Morales led the Movimiento al Socialismo (Mas) to power in 2006. The Mas has governed for all but one year since including the current administration and insisted on sovereign control of Bolivia's lithium, or with limited input from foreign companies.