Rapid growth of Bolivia’s lithium industry creating new problems for local communities

by Maxwell Radwin on 15 April 2024

• A lithium plant is using untested equipment and potentially mismanaging its use of freshwater, raising concerns for residents about whether the Bolivian government can responsibly manage the rapid growth of the industry.
• Activists are concerned about what they found during a recent inspection of lithium facilities in the Salar de Uyuni, a salt flat with an estimated 21 million tons of lithium.
• They called for increased transparency about what lithium facilities are able to produce and how much water and electricity they’re using.

Bolivia is racing to attract foreign investment in its massive, untapped lithium reserves, with plans to expand operations and build new processing plants. But residents living near the lithium deposits say there are too many problems with the facilities already in operation.

A lithium plant opened last year has untested equipment and is possibly mismanaging its use of freshwater, raising concerns for residents about whether the Bolivian government can responsibly manage the rapid growth of the industry.

The facilities are located in the Salar de Uyuni, a salt flat with an estimated 21 million tons of lithium. Located in the Department of Potosi, the salt flats are believed to be the largest lithium deposit in the world, and makes up one piece of the “Lithium Triangle” with neighboring Argentina and Chile.

“We want to see the industrialization of lithium,” Potosí senator Elena Aguilar told Mongabay. “But it has to be done responsibly for the sake of our natural resources, like water.”

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