YLB's lithium carbonate production in Bolivia 2018-2021

In the first half of 2021, lithium carbonate production of Bolivian state-owned company Yacimientos de Litio Bolivianos (YBL) surpassed 250 metric tons. This was more than the production recorded throughout the entirety of the previous year. In 2020, production was halted from mid-March to July as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, slowly resuming in August.

Yacimientos de Litio Bolivianos

YLB was founded in 2017, under the Ministry of Energy, replacing the former responsible organ, Gerencia Nacional de Recursos Evaporíticos (GNRE). The company is responsible for developing the entire production chain of salt flats' resources in the country, such as lithium and potassium salts. YLB's lithium carbonate production is still in the pilot stage but is expected to reach 15 thousand metric tons annually when the plant is operating at full capacity. In 2020, YBL’s lithium carbonate sales were limited to samples sold for international quality assessment.

Lithium in Bolivia

Bolivia’s lithium resources are a part of the so-called “lithium triangle”, a region of salt flats in the Andes stretching around the borders of Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile. In 2019, a new assessment conducted in the deep layers of the country’s salt mines estimated Bolivia's lithium resources at more than 20 million tons, more than doubling previous estimates. This consolidated the South American country as the holder of the world’s largest lithium resources.