{"id":1161500,"date":"2020-01-23T06:13:43","date_gmt":"2020-01-23T12:13:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/?p=1012011"},"modified":"2020-01-23T06:13:43","modified_gmt":"2020-01-23T12:13:43","slug":"germany-wants-bolivias-new-government-to-revise-scrapped-lithium-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/?p=1161500","title":{"rendered":"Germany wants Bolivia\u2019s new government to revise scrapped lithium deal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Germany is hoping to engage Bolivia&#8217;s next government in talks over a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/bolivia-walks-away-from-lithium-project-with-german-company\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">scrapped joint venture deal<\/a> to develop the South American country\u2019s massive lithium reserves, as members of its car sector struggle to meet electric vehicles (EVs) production targets due to a supply shortage of battery cells.<\/p>\n<div class='d-flex justify-content-center d-xs-block d-sm-block d-md-none'>\n<div id='div-gpt-ad-1561499308230-0'><script>googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1561499308230-0');});<\/script><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Both nations <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/germany-secures-access-worlds-second-largest-lithium-deposit\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">signed a lithium partnership in 2018<\/a> following three years of intense lobbying from Berlin, which said a small privately-owned company from Germany was a better bet than its Chinese rivals.<\/p>\n<p>Bolivia&#8217;s state-owned lithium<br \/>\ncompany YLB and Germany&#8217;s ACI System planned to install four lithium plants in<br \/>\nthe Salar de Uyuni salt flats, which hold the&nbsp;world\u2019s second-largest<br \/>\nlithium deposit.<\/p>\n<p>The joint venture was also going to<br \/>\nbuild a&nbsp;factory for EV batteries&nbsp;in the country, which is sitting on about<br \/>\nnine million tonnes of lithium, or around 25% of the world\u2019s known reserves.<\/p>\n<p>The deal, however, was cancelled in<br \/>\nNovember following locals\u2019 protests and a change of leadership at YLB following<br \/>\npresident Evo Morales resignation.<\/p>\n<p>Morales had fled Bolivia earlier in<br \/>\nthe month after losing the support of the military and police amid widespread<br \/>\nprotests over a disputed election. His supporters say he was the victim of an<br \/>\norchestrated coup. Opponents argue he was forced from power after manipulating<br \/>\nthe constitution to run for a fourth term in office then seeking to win that<br \/>\nvote with electoral fraud.<\/p>\n<p>Bolivians will choose a new<br \/>\npresident May 3 and Berlin is closely following related developments as the<br \/>\ncancelled venture is considered vital for the German auto industry&#8217;s plans to<br \/>\ndevelop electric batteries.<\/p>\n<p>The new head of YLB, Juan Carlos<br \/>\nZuleta, said last week the deal would not be revived, adding that the state-owned<br \/>\ncompany planned to apply strict limits to foreign investment in the extraction<br \/>\nand processing of the key element for the production of the batteries that<br \/>\npower EVs and smart phones.<\/p>\n<p>Zuleta, however, doesn\u2019t seem fully<br \/>\nopposed to letting foreign companies as he noted that a similar deal with China\u2019s<br \/>\nXinjiang TBEA was being reassessed. He also hinted recently that Tesla should<br \/>\nbe considering building a plant in Bolivia.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/juan-carlos-zuleta-tweet.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1012012\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/juan-carlos-zuleta-tweet.jpg 899w, https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/juan-carlos-zuleta-tweet-300x134.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/juan-carlos-zuleta-tweet-768x343.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 899px) 100vw, 899px\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>Demand for the white mineral is<br \/>\nexpected to more than double by 2025. The soft, light commodity is mined mainly<br \/>\nin Australia, Chile and Argentina.<\/p>\n<p>Bolivia wants to strengthen local<br \/>\nknow-how and become a producer, but its lithium is found at higher altitude and<br \/>\ncontain more magnesium (Mg) and potassium than in neighbouring Chile and<br \/>\nArgentina, making the extraction process much more complicated and costly.<\/p>\n<p>Uyuni\u2019s higher rainfall and cooler<br \/>\nclimate mean that its evaporation rate is not even half that of Chile\u2019s Salar<br \/>\nde Atacama, where brine ponds evaporate quickly.<\/p>\n<p>Germany\u2019s push comes as some of its key auto industry actors are beginning to show signs of distress. <em>Manager Magazin<\/em> <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.manager-magazin.de\/premium\/elektroautos-daimler-volkswagen-und-bmw-droht-eine-batteriekrise-a-00000000-0002-0001-0000-000169070106\" >reported on Thursday<\/a> that Daimler has been forced to reduce its 2020 production targets for the Mercedes-Benz EQC EV to 30,000 from about 60,000 due to a supply shortage of battery cells from LG Chem.<\/p>\n<p>Daimler expected to sell around<br \/>\n25,000 EQC vehicles last year, but was only able to build around 7,000, the article<br \/>\nsaid.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>German Economy Minister, Peter Altmaier, has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/chinas-e-car-makers-go-from-strength-to-strength\/a-50401042\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">urged local industries to secure raw materials<\/a> for electric batteries&nbsp;to reduce dependence on Asian suppliers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Project is considered vital for the German auto industry&#8217;s plans to develop electric batteries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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