• Home
  • Politics
  • Health
  • World
  • Business
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • More
    • Sports
    • Entertainment
    • Lifestyle
What's Hot

EXCLUSIVE: ‘The Man She Is Today’: European Companies Accused Of ‘Importing’ Woke Ideology

May 29, 2025

‘The Economy Is On Fire!’: Kevin O’Leary Drops Fact Check On CNN Panelists Railing Against Trump’s Economy

May 29, 2025

DeSantis Signs Bill Making Gold And Silver Legal Tender

May 28, 2025
Facebook Twitter Instagram
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
Saturday, May 31
Patriot Now NewsPatriot Now News
  • Home
  • Politics

    Security video shows brazen sexual assault of California woman by homeless man

    October 24, 2023

    Woman makes disturbing discovery after her boyfriend chases away home intruder who stabbed him

    October 24, 2023

    Poll finds Americans overwhelmingly support Israel’s war on Hamas, but younger Americans defend Hamas

    October 24, 2023

    Off-duty pilot charged with 83 counts of attempted murder after allegedly trying to shut off engines midflight on Alaska Airlines

    October 23, 2023

    Leaked audio of Shelia Jackson Lee abusively cursing staffer

    October 22, 2023
  • Health

    Disparities In Cataract Care Are A Sorry Sight

    October 16, 2023

    Vaccine Stocks—Including Pfizer, Moderna, BioNTech And Novavax—Slide Amid Plummeting Demand

    October 16, 2023

    Long-term steroid use should be a last resort

    October 16, 2023

    Rite Aid Files For Bankruptcy With More ‘Underperforming Stores’ To Close

    October 16, 2023

    Who’s Still Dying From Complications Related To Covid-19?

    October 16, 2023
  • World

    New York Democrat Dan Goldman Accuses ‘Conservatives in the South’ of Holding Rallies with ‘Swastikas’

    October 13, 2023

    IDF Ret. Major General Describes Rushing to Save Son, Granddaughter During Hamas Invasion

    October 13, 2023

    Black Lives Matter Group Deletes Tweet Showing Support for Hamas 

    October 13, 2023

    AOC Denounces NYC Rally Cheering Hamas Terrorism: ‘Unacceptable’

    October 13, 2023

    L.A. Prosecutors Call Out Soros-Backed Gascón for Silence on Israel

    October 13, 2023
  • Business

    EXCLUSIVE: ‘The Man She Is Today’: European Companies Accused Of ‘Importing’ Woke Ideology

    May 29, 2025

    ‘The Economy Is On Fire!’: Kevin O’Leary Drops Fact Check On CNN Panelists Railing Against Trump’s Economy

    May 29, 2025

    DeSantis Signs Bill Making Gold And Silver Legal Tender

    May 28, 2025

    John Deere Announces $20 Billion Plan To Build Up American Manufacturing

    May 28, 2025

    EV Startup Promised To Cut China Ties — Then Reportedly Shared US Data Anyway

    May 27, 2025
  • Finance

    Ending China’s De Minimis Exception Brings 3 Benefits for Americans

    April 17, 2025

    The Trump Tariff Shock Should Push Indonesia to Reform Its Economy

    April 17, 2025

    Tariff Talks an Opportunity to Reinvigorate the Japan-US Alliance

    April 17, 2025

    How China’s Companies Are Responding to the US Trade War

    April 16, 2025

    The US Flip-flop Over H20 Chip Restrictions 

    April 16, 2025
  • Tech

    Cruz Confronts Zuckerberg on Pointless Warning for Child Porn Searches

    February 2, 2024

    FTX Abandons Plans to Relaunch Crypto Exchange, Commits to Full Repayment of Customers and Creditors

    February 2, 2024

    Elon Musk Proposes Tesla Reincorporates in Texas After Delaware Judge Voids Pay Package

    February 2, 2024

    Tesla’s Elon Musk Tops Disney’s Bob Iger as Most Overrated Chief Executive

    February 2, 2024

    Mark Zuckerberg’s Wealth Grew $84 Billion in 2023 as Pedophiles Target Children on Facebook, Instagram

    February 2, 2024
  • More
    • Sports
    • Entertainment
    • Lifestyle
Patriot Now NewsPatriot Now News
Home»Finance»China Begins Lithium Extraction, Increases Mining Investment in Bolivia
Finance

China Begins Lithium Extraction, Increases Mining Investment in Bolivia

July 12, 2023No Comments6 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
China Begins Lithium Extraction, Increases Mining Investment in Bolivia
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email
Advertisement

Nearly six months after a $1 billion agreement was signed between the Chinese firms CATL, BRUNP, and CMOC (CBC) and the Bolivian state company Yacimientos de Litio Bolivianos (YLB) to explore lithium deposits in the South American nation, China has begun extraction. As a public report about the state of the extraction is set to come out later this summer, initially expected in June, China has decided to increase its investment in lithium in Bolivia.

On June 18, the Chinese government announced it would increase its investment by $400 million, a deal that will add to China’s economic standing in Bolivia. China is already the country’s largest trading partner, investor, and financier.

On top of the new investment, the Export-Import Bank of China (Eximbank), Bolivia’s largest foreign financier, announced last month that it would be supplying Bolivia with a $250 million loan to help build a zinc refining plant in Oruro, in the heart of mining country. This came after Eximbank in February offered another $350 million loan for the plant, which will be built in part through the Chinese Cooperation Agency and Chinese mining and construction contractors.

Last month also saw China, Russia, and Bolivia announce a new deal, valued at $1.4 billion, to build two new processing plants for lithium carbonate technology. The plants in Pastos Grandes and Coipasa will be run in conjunction between China’s CITIC Guoan Group, Russia’s Uranium One Group, and the YLB. The plants will be neighbors to the plants already being run by the CBC in the Uyuni salt flats.

The $1.4 billion deal was criticized by Western partners and analysts on political and environmental concerns, to which President Luis Arce replied “we are not going to allow political issues to damage the economy of Bolivians.” With Bolivia currently undergoing its worst economic crisis of the 21st century, Arce has promised that Chinese investments, supported by loans, will help deal with the situation.

See also  Anger as Anti-UK Republican, China Hardliner to Attend King's Coronation

Enjoying this article? Click here to subscribe for full access. Just $5 a month.

Laura Richardson, commander of the U.S. Southern Command, visited Bolivia in April to express her interest and concerns regarding Bolivian lithium and the country’s relationship with China and Russia.

Napoleón Pacheco, a professor of economics at the Major University of San Andrés in La Paz, says that the Movement for Socialism, the ruling socialist party of Evo Morales and now Luis Arce, has made the country’s relationship with China its biggest foreign policy and economic priority.

On such a relationship, Pacheco states that “between 2005 and 2018, Bolivia multiplied its exports to China 19 times and its imports 13 times,” while its debt towards China increased over 26 times. José Luis Evia, a Bolivian economist, has listed 28 Chinese companies that have a presence in Bolivia, mainly large, publicly-run companies such as Sinohydro and, now, the three firms that make up the CBC.

Advertisement

Juan Carlos Montenegro, the director of YLB during Evo Morales’ last term, spoke to The Diplomat about his concerns regarding the lithium deals. “I still do not understand how the financing works,” he said by phone. “Their goals are large, but they do not have the raw materials to reach them in the timespan they are claiming.”

Bolivia currently expects to extract 25,000 tons per year from its deal with CBC and wants to reach 50,000 tons per year by 2025. Montenegro argues that the technological capacity of Bolivia’s lithium industry is only sufficient to extract about half of that.

See also  Canadian Police Investigate Death of Man Targeted by China

“If this were Argentina or China, this would work, but in Bolivia, the conditions are different,” he said. He added that Bolivia will need to develop new technologies to meet its extraction, production, and recuperation goals, and does not see those achievements coming until 2025.

Other critics say that Chinese operations in Latin America’s mining belt have been environmentally damaging and disrespectful of indigenous concerns. The Collective on Chinese Financing and Investments, Human Rights and the Environment looked at 26 mining, infrastructure, and energy projects in Latin America. It concluded that every single one of them had contributed amply to deforestation and water pollution and human rights violations against local and indigenous communities.

A report by the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights published this March also found that 14 Chinese energy and mining projects in nine Latin American countries “ignored regulations protecting the environment and local and Indigenous peoples.” Even nationally, Chinese mines have been plagued by safety disasters, with repeated cases of mining explosions, landslides, and environmental contamination.

Furthermore, according to surveys from some Bolivian think tanks including the Center for Studies for Labor and Agricultural Development in La Paz, the increased Chinese presence has created social, political, and cultural tensions between new Chinese workers and Bolivian locals.

“They do not attempt to learn Spanish or eat with us, they keep to themselves and live in their own facilities,” said one anonymous worker at a Chinese-run construction site. Another complained about Bolivia being used for “political games” by China, as “they only care about their own interests, not the damage they are doing to our country, they are just like the Americans or the Spanish before them.”

See also  Chile's Codelco must kick-start lithium industry while reviving copper output

Enjoying this article? Click here to subscribe for full access. Just $5 a month.

Montenegro, who now works as an energy and mining consultant, said that these issues were not unique to Chinese projects. “This is not a Chinese problem, everyone has to deal with this,” he said, adding, “where there is capital, there is development, we just have to be careful to respect sovereignty and establish the rules of the game to ensure our rights are protected.”

But the Chinese government, local sources working with Chinese public companies in mining and infrastructure say, has attempted to suppress these concerns and made workers sign non-disclosure agreements to ensure they do not discuss the Chinese companies’ conduct at the work sites.

The latest agreement reflects China’s ambition to become the principal investor in Bolivian mining, a country with large reserves of lithium, zinc, cobalt, silver, and gold. China is reportedly prioritizing Bolivia in the so-called “lithium triangle,” which also includes Argentina and Chile, given the greater level of political-economic leverage that it enjoys there.

Advertisement

Bolivia must be wary of China’s intentions and ambitions in the country, and provide further oversight to minimize political, cultural, economic, and environmental damage. It should also share information openly with the Bolivian public about the dealings with Chinese firms to increase confidence, while ideological quarrels with Western countries should be dropped to ensure a diversified, robust economy at a time when it is most needed.

Begins Bolivia China Extraction Increases Investment Lithium mining
Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email

Related Posts

EV Startup Promised To Cut China Ties — Then Reportedly Shared US Data Anyway

May 27, 2025

OpenAI CEO Warns: ‘Not A Huge Amount Of Time’ Until China Overpowers American AI

May 9, 2025

Trump’s Tariffs Trigger Turmoil In China As Country’s Economic Tailspin Intensifies Per New Data

May 6, 2025

American Manufacturers Overwhelmed With Orders After Trump’s Tariff Crackdown On China

May 5, 2025
Add A Comment

Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

Top Posts

‘Jesus Christ Was an Anti-Imperialist Palestinian’

October 13, 2023

Oliver Anthony Posts Heartfelt Message to Fans – Calls on People to Help Each Other (VIDEO) | The Gateway Pundit

August 19, 2023

Asia Stocks Rise, Treasuries Dip in Cautious Trade: Markets Wrap

May 1, 2023

Speaker McCarthy Knocks Florida Gov. DeSantis for Not ‘Sitting Down’ With Woke Disney

April 29, 2023
Don't Miss

EXCLUSIVE: ‘The Man She Is Today’: European Companies Accused Of ‘Importing’ Woke Ideology

Business May 29, 2025

Consumers’ Research issued a “Woke Alert” on Thursday warning American shoppers that three European companies…

‘The Economy Is On Fire!’: Kevin O’Leary Drops Fact Check On CNN Panelists Railing Against Trump’s Economy

May 29, 2025

DeSantis Signs Bill Making Gold And Silver Legal Tender

May 28, 2025

John Deere Announces $20 Billion Plan To Build Up American Manufacturing

May 28, 2025
About
About

This is your World, Tech, Health, Entertainment and Sports website. We provide the latest breaking news straight from the News industry.

We're social. Connect with us:

Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest
Categories
  • Business (4,136)
  • Entertainment (4,220)
  • Finance (3,202)
  • Health (1,938)
  • Lifestyle (1,645)
  • Politics (3,084)
  • Sports (4,036)
  • Tech (2,006)
  • Uncategorized (4)
  • World (3,944)
Our Picks

Dollar slips in thin holiday trading on bets Fed is done with rate rises

September 4, 2023

Tekashi 6ix9ine’s Bodyguard Poses High-Stakes Challenge To His Attackers

March 24, 2023

Sickos Are Using AI to Generate ‘Astoundingly Realistic’ Child Sexual Abuse Images

October 24, 2023
Popular Posts

EXCLUSIVE: ‘The Man She Is Today’: European Companies Accused Of ‘Importing’ Woke Ideology

May 29, 2025

‘The Economy Is On Fire!’: Kevin O’Leary Drops Fact Check On CNN Panelists Railing Against Trump’s Economy

May 29, 2025

DeSantis Signs Bill Making Gold And Silver Legal Tender

May 28, 2025
© 2025 Patriotnownews.com - All rights reserved.
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.