Bolivia's lithium

Since then, despite these deals expanding further, very little progress has been made, with extraction and production stalling despite promises from all stakeholders about “rapid industrialization.” …

Evaporation pool scandals with Russian- and Chinese-run plants also confirmed that the Direct Lithium Extraction (better known as DLE) technology offered by both countries was simply inadequate for Bolivia’s lithium industry. This was confirmed repeatedly by lithium experts, including directly by the late Juan Carlos Montenegro, who told me, “This is a geopolitical partnership, and it shows in the level of competence on display in the lithium project.”…

Bolivia first looked to export lithium by 2026, but that is looking completely out of the question, with some believing it was never a realistic goal. Yet, indigenous communities in the mining belt were promised fast and large returns — their support being contingent on such returns. If the government under-delivers once again, it may have more social conflict on its hands…

American firms, once eager to invest in Bolivia’s lithium potential, have largely moved on, prioritizing countries with stable governance and predictable investment climates.

DB2

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Falling lithium prices and slowing demand for EVs have caused many lithium projects to be cancelled or delayed. Investment is slowing. Changes in Bolivia are no surprise.

It remains to be seen if we can get to 50% EVs by 2030. At the moment hybids are likely to dominate for a while especially due to problems with EV performance in cold weather.

I have two physicists as inlaws who would say solid-state batteries are a long way off.

However, the market seems to disagree with them. Neither of them are an engineer but will defer problems to the engineers. I do not think either of them are reading the engineers on this well.

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