Bolivia signs $450-mln lithium deal with Russia

Bolivia, home to some of the world's biggest lithium reserves, signed a $450 million 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, said the Bolivian government and Uranium One Group executives. "This agreement follows the production and sales model we are proposing to every company that wants to work with our lithium. We will be participating in every point of the production chain,"

President Luis Arce said at the signing ceremony.Bolivia's 23 million metric tons of certified lithium reserves have drawn interest from China and Russia, which have allied with the South American country to launch industrial-scale production.