Bolivia signs $450-mn lithium deal with Russia

Bolivia, home to some of the world's biggest lithium reserves, signed a 450 million USD deal Wednesday with Russian state firm Uranium One Group to produce the key battery and electric vehicle components.

Under the agreement, the Russian firm's parent company, Rosatom, will invest in Bolivia over two years to build a pilot lithium plant in the country's south. Uranium One Group was one of seven firms vying for the contract under a tender launched last year by Bolivia's state-run lithium firm, YLB.

Bolivia's 23 million metric tonnes of certified lithium reserves have drawn interest from China and Russia, which have allied with the South American country to launch industrial-scale production. Together with Argentina and Chile, Bolivia makes up the so-called "lithium triangle."