SANTA CRUZ DE LA SIERRA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th July, 2023) ANTA CRUZ DE LA SANTA CRUZ DE LA SIERRA (Pakistan Point news / Sputnik - 10th July, 2023) IERRA, Bolivia, July 10 (SANTA CRUZ DE LA SIERRA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th July, 2023) putnik) - The building of Russian state-owned nuclear energy company Rosatom's facility for lithium carbonate production in the southern Bolivian city of Potosi will start in early 2024, the chief of Bolivian lithium company Yacimientos de Litio Bolivianos (YLB), Carlos Humberto Ramos, told SANTA CRUZ DE LA SIERRA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th July, 2023) putnik.
"In the first months of next year we will start the construction of this plant," Ramos said.
The Bolivian entity's head said that Rosatom's planned investment of $600 million in the project would be adjusted within half a year based on additional research and may exceed the sum already set, while the Bolivian company would assist in geological studies and project support.
In late June, Rosatom's international uranium mining holding Uranium One Group and YLB signed a framework agreement on the construction of an industrial complex for the extraction and production of lithium carbonate in Bolivia.
Bolivia has some of the world's largest lithium reserves, located mainly in the salt flats of Uyuni, Coipasa and Pastos Grandes in the southwestern highlands. The Uyuni salt flats reserves are estimated at more than 21 million tonnes.
