"Bolivian court pauses Chinese, Russian lithium deals", 02 June 2025

...Bolivia’s plans to emerge as a major lithium producer have hit an impasse after a local court ordered the suspension of two major extraction deals signed last year valued at more than $2 billion...

The contracts were signed in 2023 and 2024 respectively with China’s CBC consortium, which includes battery manufacturer CATL, and Russia’s Uranium One Group, a subsidiary of state nuclear firm Rosatom...

The deals aimed to establish direct lithium extraction (DLE) facilities in the Salar de Uyuni in southwest Bolivia. The salar is host one of the world’s largest lithium reserves, and forms part of the larger Lithium Triangle shared with Chile and Argentina.

The suspension order was issued last week by a mixed court of Colcha K, a village located in the Potosí region, after a legal complaint was filed by Indigenous groups arguing that the projects had violated their environmental rights and were allowed to proceed without formal consultation.

Both projects have yet to receive legislative approvals but had already initiated preliminary activities on-site, which the local group claimed were conducted without proper authorization or environmental assessments...

As reported by the Argentine paper Infobae, the court ruling will prohibit YLB as well as the Ministry of Hydrocarbons and Energy, from undertaking any administrative or operational steps related to the contracts until the judicial process is concluded.

However, the Bolivian government has maintained that it has yet to be formally notified of the court ruling, and insists that until official communication is received, the legislative process surrounding the contracts will continue...