Lithium findings in Uyuni - Bolivia

2009-04-23

In a salt desert in southern Bolivia lies the world's largest lithium reserves. While the mineral become increasingly important for the car industry, the Bolivian government has got an important trump card in negotiations with foreign companies and governments.- This is the future, "says Marcelo Castro, chief engineer for the project in the lithium salt desert Salar de Uyuni.He simply spray the warm salt solution from the test pool between the fingers. Soon the liquid has dried in the wind and his hands are dyed white of a thin layer of mineral rich salt.If all goes as planned, the same process is soon to be made on an industrial scale. The salt concentrations of lithium are worth gold. The world's car industry looks for environmentally friendly alternatives and now the bolivian goverment is starting to build a state giant plant for mining near the village of Rio Grande in the Salar de Uyunis periphery. Text by Jon Pelling

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