Citic Gouan is set to sign a contract with the Bolivian state company, which must be approved by the Plurinational Legislative Assembly. Concerns arise over constant changes in YLB and the lack of state vision.
Sources close to the Bolivian Lithium Deposits company (YLB) have announced the arrival of a large delegation from China’s Citic Gouan, which has reportedly given the green light to a feasibility study for the installation of a direct lithium extraction (DLE) industrial plant in northern Salar de Uyuni.
The announcement comes amid the unexpected replacement of YLB’s president, Karla Calderón, by Omar Alarcón on September 2, making him the eighth president of the state company in seven years, during which time there have been controversial management issues related to the government’s largest industrialization effort under Luis Arce’s administration.
Some analysts have described Calderón’s term as “the most productive” compared to previous executives, pointing to her efforts in denouncing irregularities, trying to realign the lithium carbonate production project, and negotiating with Citic Gouan.
Lithium economy expert Óscar Vargas expressed surprise over Calderón’s replacement, particularly because the contract with the Chinese company would be historic for the country. “A few weeks ago, she certified Citic Gouan’s feasibility studies, which feature a very novel liquid membrane technology that doesn’t exist anywhere else in the world and will be used for the first time,” he said.
According to Vargas, this technology will allow for the production of 24,000 tons of lithium through selective lithium-ion membranes, representing cutting-edge nanotechnology that China will transfer to Bolivia via patents and intellectual property rights.
“Bolivia’s lithium has 17 times more magnesium than lithium, making extraction expensive due to the lack of suitable technology. Even the pool technologies have taken 12 years to develop. Citic Gouan has experience with these selective membranes since it has four projects in China,” he added.
He further explained that the technology is based on liquid membrane electrodialysis, which recovers lithium from brines with a high magnesium-lithium ratio. “However, this contract still needs to be approved by the Legislative Assembly, as there is currently only an agreement,” Vargas clarified.
Chain of Setbacks Gonzalo Mondaca, associate researcher at Bolivia’s Documentation and Information Center (Cedib), highlighted that the constant changes in YLB’s leadership reveal the weaknesses in the conception of the lithium industrialization project, as so far only exploitation exists.
He cited the example of the first executive manager, Juan Carlos Montenegro (who passed away on April 24), who worked under the former Mining Minister and National Manager of Evaporitic Resources, Alberto Echazú, who was accused and arrested for causing Bs 425 million in financial damage. Echazú disbanded the Scientific Committee formed in 2008, which had developed technology adapted to the Uyuni salt flats that had “some viability.”
“Echazú did manage to build the potassium chloride plant and nearly completed the pilot phase, which was finished by Montenegro. We had pilot plants for potassium chloride, lithium carbonate, cathode materials, and batteries. By 2017, Bolivia was a leader in Latin America in lithium industrialization development, but it stopped there,” Mondaca said.
He emphasized that Montenegro was instrumental in the creation of YLB, freeing lithium from the bureaucracy of the Bolivian Mining Corporation (Comibol) and establishing a partnership with the German company ACI Systems, which failed due to a lack of social consultation with groups like the Potosí Civic Committee (Compcipo).
“After Montenegro, all managers have had smaller roles without a long-term vision. Engineer Calderón, like Montenegro, had more experience in chemistry and chemical processes. But she also faced many challenges, and now she’s being replaced, something likely tied to changes in the trusted personnel of former minister Franklin Molina,” Mondaca concluded.
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