"Chinese and Russian companies dominate in race to tap Bolivia’s lithium" 17 October 2022

As a global race for supplies of lithium heats up, companies from China and Russia are dominating the competition to unlock the vast potential of Bolivia, the country with the world’s biggest resource of the critical metal for electric vehicle batteries.

Four Chinese and one Russian group are on the shortlist as Bolivia’s leftwing government nears a decision on a possible partner for state lithium company Yacimientos de Litio Bolivianos, with what kind of collaboration to be determined. One US group is the only western company still in contention.

The successful bidder will face a challenge in extracting Bolivia’s deposits but the prize is worth it. The country has the world’s biggest resources, according to the United States Geological Survey, but is the missing member of Latin America’s “lithium triangle”, where Chile and Argentina have done more to develop their resources. As demand outstrips supply and prices surge, Bolivia is a tempting target.

“China is dominating this strategic sector [and] Bolivia is right in the middle of this global competition,” said Benjamin Gedan of US think-tank the Wilson Center.

The shortlisted companies include four from China: Xinjiang TBEA Group; Fusion Enertech; Brunp, a subsidiary of world’s largest car battery maker, CATL, with China Molybdenum; and CITIC Guoan Group with the China Railway International Group. Lilac Solutions, a US company backed by Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and Uranium One Group, a subsidiary of Russia’s state nuclear company Rosatom, complete the list. [...]

The backdrop of global tensions has been heightened by the war in Ukraine. The Movimiento al Socialismo party government is aligned with China and Russia and has refused to condemn Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine. Relations between the US and Bolivia have been hostile almost since the MAS came to power in 2006. [...]