Bolivia to tap huge lithium deposit in salt lake

[Judi Lynn]

Bolivia to tap huge lithium deposit in salt lake
Reuters, Monday October 27 2008
By Eduardo Garcia

LA PAZ, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Bolivia is moving ahead with plans to tap potentially huge lithium reserves at Uyuni, the world's biggest salt lake and one of the country's top tourist attractions, as demand for lithium-ion batteries surge.

Stretched between distant Andean peaks like a shimmering white carpet, the Uyuni salt lake is home to pink flamingos, 1,000-year-old cacti, rare hummingbirds and hotels built entirely from blocks of salt.

The lake may also hold one of the world's biggest deposits of lithium, and the government is investing $6 million in a pilot plant to help it figure out the best way to mine the soft alkali metal used in rechargeable batteries.

A pilot plant currently under construction in Uyuni, which is some 12,100 feet (3,700 meters) high in the Andes, might lead to the construction of a $250 million lithium facility, mining director Freddy Beltran told Reuters late on Friday.

Beltran said the extraction of lithium from Uyuni should have only minimal environmental impact, but activists are likely to raise concerns about the plan.

Leftist President Evo Morales laid the cornerstone of the pilot plant in May this year, which is scheduled to come on stream before the end of 2009.

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