Former Bolivia president Evo Morales told news agencies in Buenos Aires last Tuesday that he was forced from office by a United States-backed coup d'etat aimed at gaining access to the South American country's vast lithium resources.
Uranium One Group, a subsidiary of Russia’s state nuclear company Rosatom, may buy a controlling stake in a lithium project in Chile’s Atacama salt flat from Wealth Minerals Ltd, the Canada-listed company said on Tuesday.
Chile's production of both copper and lithium jumped in August, even as the country's manufacturing production dropped 1.5% compared with the same month the previous year, government data showed on Monday.
Argentina's opposition candidate Alberto Fernandez told mining companies and governors from key mining provinces on Monday that exports were the only solution for Argentina, his coalition said.
China's Ganfeng Lithium , said on Sunday it had completed a US$ 160 million deal to raise its stake in the Cauchari-Olaroz lithium brine project in the northern province of Jujuy, Argentina to 50%.
Favorable international demand and a recent discovery of lithium reserves in Brazil caused a rush for the metal, used in electrical batteries, reports the Folha de Sao Paulo. Two ongoing projects will elevate Brazil to the status of one of the world's largest lithium-producing countries in the next decade, according to data from the National Agency for Mining, ANM..
Germany and Bolivia will join forces for the extraction of lithium, as Europe's largest economy moves to secure supplies for battery-powered vehicles, which are believed to be looming over, the German government announced Wednesday.
Chile has called for lithium to be traded on the London Metals Exchange to provide greater “clarity” about its value, mining minister Baldo Prokurica said. At present, lithium producers negotiate contracts with buyers but the terms of the deals are not made public. Critics say this lack of clarity has a chilling effect on potential new investment in the market since the metal’s value cannot be precisely measured.
Bolivia, known to have the largest reserves of lithium, has offered the metal –used in making batteries of electric vehicles, laptops and smart phones– to India. Ambassador to India, Sergio Dario Arispe Barrientos, said Bolivia has the largest deposit of Lithium and India could explore this opportunity.
The age of the electric vehicle (EV) will be here sooner than you think.