Lithium Reserves Report Production Globally

pstrongAbstract/strongbr / In a presentation at the inaugural strongstrongememLithium/em/em/strong/strong Supply amp; Markets Options(18)gt;Conference held in Santiago in January 20091, three factors were suggested to determine whether strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong-ion (Li-ion) strongembatteries/em/strong will be adopted by the global automobile industry in its transition to electric propulsion, namely: the oil market, technological development and resistance to change. Here this argument is reviewed and extended in light of some important recent events that have occurred in the world economy. First, the oil market is reanalyzed not only in terms of yearly oil prices and their volatility but also in relation to average oil prices and volatility for the last 12 years. Second, technological development is now discussed in reference to different types of Li-ion strongembatteries/em/strong as well as other classes of rechargeable strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong strongembatteries/em/strong that are beginning to appear in the market. Third, resistance to change is complemented with acceptance to change. In addition, the original argument is further developed to show how the above mentioned factors interact among each other and the way the strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong battery market operates within the strongstrongememLithium/em/em/strong/strong Supply Chain to conform the basis for a more compact model of strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong battery adoption. Lastly, Boliviaacute;s strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong prospects are analyzed to see the efforts it is currently making to develop the worldacute;s largest strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong resource, together with the physical, political and social challenges, and a preliminary personal view on the industrialization of the Salar de Uyuni./p
pstrongThe oil market/strongbr / Once the economic recession has been declared to be over, oil prices have averaged around US$ 76 a barrel during the last quarter of 2009. As anticipated in a previous article, they could not in fact drop forever and a long run perspective of the world economy did indeed call for not-so-low oil prices to avoid a supply crisis2. The argument that ldquo;Peak oilrdquo; and climate change may prevent an ever-lasting decrease of oil prices also appears to be quite relevant today. In addition, although 2009 closed with a yearly average oil price about 38% lower than the value obtained in 2008, this did not diminish the intensity of the electric car race. Of course, prices are not alone in the oil market as determinants of adoption of Li strongembatteries/em/strong; price volatility (i.e. uncertainty) counts as well. But this variable showed also a much lower figure in 2009 than in 2008. Yet, again, the strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong rush was seen to be on the rise./p
pAt first sight, the findings above would demolish the original contention that both oil price and its volatility may have an important effect on adoption of Li strongembatteries/em/strong. However, the argument remains intact if yearly oil prices and their volatility (as measured by yearly standard deviations) are examined in relation to average values for a given period of years 3. * This paper was first presented at the strongstrongememLithium/em/em/strong/strong Supply and Markets 2010 held in Las Vegas, USA in January, 2010./p
pstrong* Independent strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong economics analyst based in Bolivia./strongbr / strong1 /strong See Juan Carlos Zuleta, ldquo;Can the Inauguration of the strongstrongememLithium/em/em/strong/strong Era Be Taken for Granted?rdquo;, paper presented at the First strongstrongememLithium/em/em/strong/strong Supply amp; Markets Conference held in Santiago Chile in January 2009.br / strong2/strong See Juan Carlos Zuleta, ldquo;strongstrongememLithium/em/em/strong/strongacute;s Electric Shockrdquo;, Industrial Minerals, January 2009.br / strong3/strong Some time was devoted to define an appropriate period of time for this analysis. To begin with, this effort was constrained by data availability: Whereas WTI at Cushing provides daily oil prices for the period 01/02/1986 ndash; 12/30/2009, Brent offers such information for the period 05/20/1987 ndash; 12/30/2009 only. Secondly, from 1986 or 1987 up to 1999 oil prices averaged each year no more than 24,53 dollars a barrel or 23,76 dollars a barrel (depending on the data utilized), but from 2000 on they started to climb and would never come back to previous figures. However, 1998 was an atypical year since it reflected the lowest values for both complete series. So it appeared reasonable to establish 1998-2009 as the period of analysis for this study./p
pAs shown in Table 1 and Figures 1 and 2, both yearly average oil prices and volatility clearly reflect figures well above their corresponding total averages (for the period 1998-2009) during the last 5 and 3 years, respectively. The numbers attained in 2009 do not seem to be as near to the ground. Albeit low, they are still well above the average for the last 12 years.nbsp; Hence because yearly oil prices (beginning 2005) and their volatility (starting in 2007) remained above the average figures over the period 1998-2009 4, the trend towards electrification in the car industry as well as adoption of advanced strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong strongembatteries/em/strong to come to grips with this development intensified5 . This resolves thebr / puzzle as to why despite the recent fall of oil prices and their volatility both car and/p
pstrongTable 1/strong/p
pstrongMovements and Volatility of Oil Prices/strong/p
p class=wp-caption-textOil Prices/p
pemSource: Energy Information Administration (EIA). Yearly averages and standardbr / deviations were calculated using daily oil prices./embr / Battery manufacturers are still investing billions of dollars in research and development of different electric cars and advanced strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong strongembatteries/em/strong. It also suggests that both car and battery makers may be placing more emphasis on both/p
pyearly oil prices and volatility in relation to total average numbers over a given 4 Using a longer period of time (1986-2009), both yearly average oil prices and volatility show numbers above their corresponding total averages during the last 6 years.nbsp; 5 This argument appears to be supported by at least the following facts. First, in November 2005, A123 Systems announced the development of strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong iron phosphate (LFP) cells based on research licensed from MIT which have been in production since 2006 and are being used in consumer products, aviation products, automotive hybrid systems and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) conversions. Second, beginning 2006 ThunderSky strongstrongememLithium/em/em/strong/strong Battery Limited have been commercializing LFP strongembatteries/em/strong for use in Do it Yourself style electric car conversions and, currently, in the electric cars made by Aptera and QUICC. Third, the announcement by General Motors in January 2007 that by 2010 it will introduce the first mass-produced Li-on powered PHEV into the market and the almost immediate responses coming from the rest of car makers of the planet.nbsp; 2period of years rather than simply yearly figures for their decision to invest in the development of electric cars and advanced strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong strongembatteries/em/strong./p
p class=wp-caption-textWT Oil Prices/p
p class=wp-caption-textBrent Oil Prices/p
pstrongTechnological Development/strong/p
pIn just a year since the inaugural LSamp;M09 conference, technological development in the advanced strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong battery industry appears to have progressed significantly, both in terms of its focus and the number of new strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong strongembatteries/em/strong that are reportedly part of different research projects.nbsp; In terms of its focus, it is now amply acknowledged that breakthrough innovations are likely to take place in different kinds of Li-ion strongembatteries/em/strong, not just strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong ironphoshate (LFP) strongembatteries/em/strong 6. After the hype generated by the launching of the first mass-produced range extended electric vehicle (REEV) by Chinese firm Buying your Dreams (BYD) using LFP strongembatteries/em/strong in December 2008, the concentration now appears to have shifted towards Manganese Spinel Cathodes manufactured by Lucky Goldstar (LG) Chemical from Korea which is working with its US subsidiary Compact to provide Li-ion strongembatteries/em/strong to General Motors (GM) for its Volt car, and NEC from Japan, Nissanacute;s official Li-ion battery supplier for its Leaf automobile.nbsp; But there is also an important effort underway with strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong-nickel cathodes by Panasonic, which has recently established a partnership with Tesla to help it lower the cost of its Li-ion strongembatteries/em/strong and extend the range of its cars including the planned model S, a cheaper and more efficient electric car than its Roadster, which still uses a strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong cobalt battery. According to a recent article 7, ldquo;Panasonicrsquo;s partnership with Tesla is part of a larger strategy to dominate the market for advanced automotive strongembatteries/em/strongrdquo;. Panasonic already leads the production of nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) strongembatteries/em/strong for hybrid vehicles. Withnbsp; Sanyo, the largest Li-ion battery maker in the world, a subsidiary it bought in December 2009, it is likely to continue providing NiMH strongembatteries/em/strong to strongemToyota/em/strong, Honda and Ford, and start ldquo;manufacturing strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong-ion strongembatteries/em/strong for the plug-in hybrid version of the strongemToyota/em/strong Priusrdquo;. Likewise, the nanowire_battery invented in 2007 has constituted another interesting Li-ion research project in 20098. It essentially consists of replacing the standard graphite anode with silicon, which is meant to store ten times more strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong than graphite).nbsp; Lastly, Hyundai is reportedly expected to use strongstrongememLithium/em/em/strong/strong-ion Polymer (LiPo) strongembatteries/em/strong, which have technologically evolved from Li-ion strongembatteries/em/strong, for its hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs).br / With respect to new research projects, last year strongstrongememLithium/em/em/strong/strong-Sulfur strongembatteries/em/strong have also received some attention. Following a Technology Review article, these strongembatteries/em/strong have potentially a higher energy density than strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong-ion strongembatteries/em/strong, but have typically been too expensive, unsafe, and unreliable to make them commercially available.nbsp; Of these problems, perhaps the most difficult one remains cost mainly because they use strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong metal, the most expensive form of strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong 9. In addition, in November 2009 the University of Dayton Research Institute has announced the development of the worldacute;s first solid-state, rechargeable strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong air battery, designed to address the fire and explosion risk of other strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong rechargeable strongembatteries/em/strong and pave the way for development of large-sized strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong rechargeables for a number of industry applications, including hybrid and electric cars. These strongembatteries/em/strong are purported to have higher energy density than ion strongembatteries/em/strong due to the lighter cathode (oxygen) they use and the fact that this material is freely available in the environment and does not need to be stored in the battery.nbsp; Much has been said about the lower energy density of strongembatteries/em/strong compared with liquid fuels. Li-ion strongembatteries/em/strong achieve the highest density of 200.2 Wh/kg, whereas gasoline attains 12,899.2 Wh/kg. Hence the energy density of gasoline would be 64.4 times higher than that of Li-ion strongembatteries/em/strong. These numbers are essentially 6 One important exception is A123 Systems, which has just struck a deal to supply LFP strongembatteries/em/strong to Fisker Automotive for the Fisker Karma PHEV to be launched late this year in the US.br / 7 See Kevin Bullis, ldquo;Tesla to Use High-Energy strongemBatteries/em/strong from Panasonicrdquo;, Technology Review, January 13, 2010.nbsp; 8 See Katherine Bourzac, ldquo;More energy in strongemBatteries/em/strongrdquo;, Technology Review, November 06, 2009.nbsp; 9 See Kevin Bullis, ldquo;Revisiting strongstrongememLithium/em/em/strong/strong-Sulfur strongemBatteries/em/strongrdquo;, Technology Review, May 22, 2009./p
pFollowing a study from the Technical University of Zurich, cited by these authors, when the higher efficiency of the electric motor is accounted for, the energy density of gasolinenbsp; would be net about 14-15 times higher than that of Li-ion strongembatteries/em/strong. Using Li-air strongembatteries/em/strong could therefore contribute to reducing substantially this relation or even inverting it11 . It should then come as no surprise that Li-air strongembatteries/em/strong are considered to be one of ldquo;the five technologies that could change everythingrdquo; over the next few decades (See:). The question remains as to the impact of this development on the strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong market, particularly considering that this kind of strongembatteries/em/strong will probably use more strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong than Li-ion ones 12.nbsp; Under normal conditions, it seems reasonable to expect that technological development in the next ten years or so will follow a similar diversified path as the one observed in 2009 with Li-ion strongembatteries/em/strong aimed at facilitating the launching of the first mass-produced electric cars in the US and other developed countries, while starting to gradually focus more on Li-air strongembatteries/em/strong, which are likely to take over the market towards the beginning of the next decade. However, whether or not Li-ion strongembatteries/em/strong become some sort of ldquo;transitional technologyrdquo; will definitely depend on how soon Li-air strongembatteries/em/strong are commercially available. This may also have some implications as to which specific types of electric cars (HEV, PHEV, REEV, BEV) prevail during this decade and the next.nbsp; Acceptance of / resistance to change As originally defined, resistance to change is referred to actions by ldquo;governments, strongemcompanies/em/strong and individuals with vested interests to prevent the emergence of strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong battery technologies mainly because this will put at serious risk their current or future privileges or advantagesrdquo;13. Here this concept is extended so as to begin discussing also about the positive side of the coin, namely the activities performed by the same players to promote the adoption of such advanced energy storage systems in their plausible search for national energy independence or security, sustainable development or just more efficient forms of transportation. For reasons 10 See Hella Engerer and Manfred Horn, ldquo;Natural Gas Vehicles: An Option for Europerdquo;, Energy Policy, Vol.br / 38, pp. 1017-1029, 2010.nbsp; 11 When fully developed, Li-air_batteries are expected to have practical specific energies of 1,000.8 Wh/kg (See:). So ldquo;grossrdquo; energy density of gasoline would be only 12.89 times higher that of Li-air strongembatteries/em/strong. After accounting for the higher efficiency of the electric motor, the energy density of gasoline would end up being net just 3 times higher than that of Li-air strongembatteries/em/strong. However, following the same source of information, theoretically, Li-air strongembatteries/em/strong could achieve even higher specific energies: 5,200 Wh/kg (including oxygen) and 11,140 Wh/kg (excluding oxygen). With these values, it would be possible to invert the relation in favor of Li-air strongembatteries/em/strong because the energy density of such advanced storage systems would become between 1.7 and 3.7 times higher than that of gasoline.nbsp; 12 As of now, there is no information on strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong requirement per kWh in Li-air strongembatteries/em/strong. However, since they use strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong for both their anode and cathode, chances are they will require more strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong per kWh overall than Li-ion strongembatteries/em/strong. This is also endorsed by the fact that the strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong utilized in the anode is metallic strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong.nbsp; Under these circumstances, one can wonder whether this will place additional pressure on the supply of strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong in the world in about a decade or so.nbsp; 13 See Juan Carlos Zuleta, ldquo;Revisiting Peak strongstrongememLithium/em/em/strong/strong or strongstrongememLithium/em/em/strong/strong in Abundancerdquo;, EV World.Com, June 24, 2008.br / In terms of governments, last year it was argued that some oil producing countries may be indeed ldquo;seeking a lead in clean energyrdquo;14. But of course this is probably not the case for all of them, particularly those that have not been able to sufficiently diversify their economies. So there is always a possibility that some oil producing countries would be interested in the failure of strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong. On the other hand, 2009 has been emblematic in terms of the billionaire financial support provided by the government to the emerging electric car and strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong battery industries in the US.nbsp; Nevertheless, the behaviour of the US government has not been exempt from some contradictions and confusion15. In addition,nbsp; tax incentives aimed at the introduction of ldquo;green carsrdquo; are beginning to proliferate all over the world.nbsp; Regarding strongemcompanies/em/strong, last year this topic was taken up exclusively in terms of the role of state-owned petroleum enterprises in the adoption of Li-ion strongembatteries/em/strong by the car industry16 . But of course other strongemcompanies/em/strong may have to do a great deal with the strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong business as well, even within the car industry itself. One case in point is strongemToyota/em/strong 17.br / Somewhat surprisingly, there are some signs that strongemToyota/em/strongrsquo;s strategy has started to change significantly by the end of 2009. Two reasons appear to explain this behaviour. First, following the tremendous hype produced by other major car makers such as GM and Nissan that by the end of this year will be launching the first mass-produced strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong-powered REEVs and BEVs in the US, it seems that strongemToyota/em/strong has begun to realize that its previous arguments against use of strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong in different kinds of electric vehicles (Li-ion is not a proven technology and there is no sufficient strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong on earth) can no longer stand on their own. In this connection, as limited as it might be, its new plan aimed at putting 500 strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong-ion-powered PHEVsnbsp; on fleet-trial in Japan, Europe and the US, must be seen as an important step forward. Second, as is well known, Panasonic has been strongemToyota/em/strongrsquo;s partner in the production of nickel metal hydride (NMH) strongembatteries/em/strong for its ldquo;starrdquo; HEV ldquo;Priusrdquo;. But Panasonicrsquo;s recent acquisition of Sanyo may unfold a new set of circumstances for strongemToyota/em/strong. It could in fact enable the motor giant to become a key player in the new electric car market to be formed following the launching of GMrsquo;s Volt and Nissanrsquo;s Leaf later this year.nbsp; Interactions among the Different Determinants of Adoption of Li strongemBatteries/em/strong 14 See Juan Carlos Zuleta, ldquo;Can the Inauguration of the strongstrongememLithium/em/em/strong/strong Era Be Taken for Granted?rdquo;, paper presented at the First strongstrongememLithium/em/em/strong/strong Supply amp; Markets Conference held in Santiago Chile in January 2009.nbsp;nbsp; 15 See Juan Carlos Zuleta, ldquo;The Obama Audit Task Force and the Voltrdquo;, EV World.Com, April 18, 2009; Juan Carlos Zuleta, ldquo;The Illusion of strongstrongememLithium/em/em/strong/strong strongemBatteries/em/strong?rdquo;, EV World.Com, April 22, 2009; Juan Carlos Zuleta, ldquo;Critiquing John Petersenacute;s acute;The Plug-in-vehicle-scamrdquo;, Seeking Alpha.Com, May 04 2009.nbsp; 16 See Juan Carlos Zuleta, ldquo;Can the Inauguration of the strongstrongememLithium/em/em/strong/strong Era Be Taken for Granted?rdquo;, paper presented at the First strongstrongememLithium/em/em/strong/strong Supply amp; Markets Conference held in Santiago Chile in January 2009.nbsp; 17 For a critical view of strongemToyota/em/strong`s and Honda`s perspective on plug-in electric cars, see: Juan Carlos Zuleta, ldquo;Why strongemToyota/em/strong and Honda Dislike strongstrongememLithium/em/em/strong/strongrdquo;, EV World.Com, March 29, 2009./p
pAs shown in Figure 3, the arguments previously discussed may become more complex. In what follows an effort is made to show some examples of how adoption itself influences its very determinants and how they in turn interact among themselves to form a sort of cumulative causation model.nbsp; Relation # 1: As adoption of Li strongembatteries/em/strong proceeds, the demand for oil could tend to be diminish, eventually leading to a price decrease which discourages adoption ofbr / Li strongembatteries/em/strong. This could be ameliorated by a pro-change government that places a tax on gasoline, while providing more funding for technological development, for example.br / Relation # 2: As adoption of Li strongembatteries/em/strong proceeds, acceptance of change will increase (and resistance to change will decrease), further encouraging adoption as well as financial support for technological development and government policies aimed at energy independence. Relation # 3: As adoption of Li strongembatteries/em/strong proceeds, technological development will be encouraged, further promoting adoption, while tending to diminish the demand for oil, and eventually leading to a price decrease which discourages adoption of Li strongembatteries/em/strong. As in Relation # 1, this could be controlled by a pro-change government with some specific policy directed to limit the supply of oil, for example./p
p class=wp-caption-textstrongstrongememLithium/em/em/strong/strong Battery Adoption/p
pSource: Based on Juan Carlos Zuleta, ldquo;Revisiting Peak strongstrongememLithium/em/em/strong/strong orbr / strongstrongememLithium/em/em/strong/strong in Abundancerdquo;, EV World.Com, June 24, 2008./p
pstrongThe strongstrongememLithium/em/em/strong/strong Supply Chain/strongbr / To enrich the analysis, in Figure 4, the notion of strongstrongememLithium/em/em/strong/strong Supply Chain is introduced.nbsp; In its most basic form, this concept implies a set of relations among the three markets in terms of supply and demand which can be explained as follows. First, the EV Market demands Li-strongembatteries/em/strong which in turn requires strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong from the resource market. Second, the resource market supplies strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong to the Li battery market which in turn supplies Li strongembatteries/em/strong to the EV market. It is clear that, other things being equal, the new markets also interact with the determinants of Li battery adoption, while they may themselves be influenced by other factors.nbsp; A new set of relations can therefore be established as follows./p
pRelation # 4: As the price of oil increases, the demand for Li may tend to increase, because the demand for Li strongembatteries/em/strong will be increased due to an increase in the demand for electric cars. But, as the supply of Li increases, the price of oil will decrease because the supply of Li strongembatteries/em/strong may also increase, encouraging the production of electric cars, while further discouraging the demand for oil.nbsp; Relation # 5: As technological development (say of Li-air strongembatteries/em/strong) proceeds, more and more Li will be required because the demand for Li strongembatteries/em/strong will also be increased, due to a greater demand for electric cars. But, if there is no sufficient strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong to meet the additional requirement of the resource, the prices of strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong will increase discouraging that specific type of technological development, because the demand for Li strongembatteries/em/strong will have most likely decreased due to a reduction in the demand for electric cars in view of the increase of the cost of the strongembatteries/em/strong.nbsp; Relation # 6: As the acceptance of change (say on the part of the government)nbsp; increases, the demand for electric cars will also augment tending to diminish the price of electric cars which in turn will further encourage the acceptance of change./p
p class=wp-caption-textstrongstrongememLithium/em/em/strong/strong Supply Chain/p
pSource: Figure 3.br / strongBoliviaacute;s strongstrongememLithium/em/em/strong/strong Prospects/strong/p
pAs is well known, with its 5.4 million MT of Li content (US Geological Survey), Bolivia holds the worldacute;s largest reserves of strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong. Since May 2008 the government has been developing a pilot plant to obtain around 480MT of Li Carbonate a year. As of October 2009 the progress of the plant showed a delay of at least 6 months which implies that it will become fully operational only in 2011. In addition, the government has announced that it will invest US$ 350 million on an industrial plant to produce between 20,000 and 30,000 MT of Li Carbonate beginning 2015.nbsp; The strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong endeavour in Bolivia faces at least three different kinds of challenges.nbsp; First, at the political level, the government has decided to go on its own. According to the Project Director, the industrial plant will be completely owned by the state because: (1) Bolivia has the largest reserves of strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong in the world; (2) that is the only way to ensure that the benefitsnbsp; will be reinvested in the region and in the country; (3) Bolivia should guarantee the supply of Li to the world on clear market conditions; and (4) exploitation and industrialization of Li should be sustainable and integral. As plausible as they might seem, these conditions do not seem to conform the basis for a reasonable strategy of development of the strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong resources in Bolivia. However, if the car revolution takes off, chances are the government will be forced to revise its decision to go on its own.nbsp; Second, at the physical level, the strongembrine/em/strong resources in Bolivia need to overcome at least the following hurdles: (1) the low evaporation levels at the Salar de Uyuni ; (2) their high Magnesium-strongstrongememLithium/em/em/strong/strong ratio; and (3) their lack of free access to the sea. As reported at the First International Forum on Science and Technology for the Industrialization of strongstrongememLithium/em/em/strong/strong and other Evaporitic Resources held in La Paz in October 2009, the University of Potosi (with the assistance of the University of Freiberg from Germany) appears to have made important progress aimed at improving evaporation rates at Uyuni using dynamic cones of intensive evaporation.nbsp; Similarly, both the governmentacute;s pilot project and the University of Potosi announced that they were able to separate Mg towards the end of the process taking recourse to different chemical procedures 18. However, Boliviaacute;s lack of freebr / access remains an important problem because it will most likely increase the cost of transportation of Li carbonate to the nearest maritime port while reducing its competitiveness.br / Third, at the social level, there is a general feeling in the communities living nearby the Salar de Uyuni that exploitation and industrialization of strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong should help them overcome their situation of poverty. However, the government hasnbsp; not yet put together a plan to face this important issue. Of course one should be rather cautious about the real possibility to generate a lot of jobs in the production of Li because this is known to be a capital intensive business.br / Finally, in a series of two articles published in two major newspapers in La Paz, Bolivia, between September and October 2009, the author of this study has advanced a preliminary proposal for the industrialization of the Salar de Uyuni.nbsp; To begin with, in order to develop the countryacute;s strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong and other resources a real scientific-technological revolution should be implemented in Bolivia, but this is a long run and costly effort. The Bolivian state should face this challengenbsp; but this does not imply to postpone almost indefinitely strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong exploitation. Bolivia should not spend its scarce money and time on ldquo;reinventing the wheelrdquo; trying to develop its own strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong carbonate technology without the appropriate knowledge and human resources. Given all the delays and technical problems facing the governmentacute;s pilot plant, this author wondered whether it would have been better to hire some international specialized firm with the necessary know-how and human resources to assist the government to develop and implement the pilot plant.nbsp; Apart from the scientific-technological development that the government should support during the following 20 years or so, the strategy should contemplate the quantification of the reserves of all evaporitic resources in the Salar de Uyuni, through the most modern prospection methods, including 3-D satellite ones, similar to the ones used in the hydrocarbon sector. In accordance with the results of this activity, the salar should be divided into different areas of exploitation in a grid. The government could then invite all interested specialized strongemcompanies/em/strong to submit exploitation proposals on Boliviaacute;s conditions based on service contracts similar to the ones the country has agreed upon with foreign private oil strongemcompanies/em/strong currently operating in Bolivia. Based on the results of the exploration process, the countrybr / 18 In this connection, while the governmentacute;s plant informed it had obtained Li carbonate of 99.5% of purity,nbsp; the University of Potosi showed a result in the order of magnitude of 90% at the laboratory level.nbsp; Nevertheless, at the forum, many experts commented on the apparent technical superiority of the process developed by the University of Potosi. This probably explains why the government has just announced that it will be working together with that institution in the development of new technologies aimed at improving the production of strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong./p
pcould decide which areas are assigned to specialized international firms and which areas are reserved for future exploitation. Within this framework, strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong carbonate delivery deals could be agreed upon with those strongemcompanies/em/strong so as to insure that Bolivia is in charge of its commercialization or utilization in subsequent industrialization processes. This approach should guarantee the immediate launch of an industrial scale operation to produce mostly Li carbonate. It is imperative to act like this because this is the only way Bolivia can send the correct signals to the Li battery and electric vehicle markets and take an important share in the strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong market. Finally, with some of the proceeds obtained from exports of Li carbonate and other derived chemical compounds, Bolivia could advance rapidly towards a more comprehensive process of industrialization of strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong to produce different classes of strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong strongembatteries/em/strong and electric cars in the country, through strategic joint ventures with the most competitive international firms in the world along Boliviarsquo;s strongstrongememlithium/em/em/strong/strong supply chain./p