Bolivia’s state-owned company, Yacimientos de Litio Bolivianos (YLB), has initiated an exploration campaign to assess the potential of salt flats and increase the country’s lithium reserves.
The Vice-Minister of Exploration and Exploitation of Energy Resources, Raúl Mayta, announced this endeavor, which involves drilling 63 wells across various salt flats in the Potosí department.
The primary objective is to gather data on brine resources, water availability, and chemical composition.
Bolivia already possesses significant lithium reserves in the Uyuni salt flat, but further exploration in other salt flats is necessary to ascertain their exploitation potential and expand the overall reserves.
In 2019, the U.S. company SRK conducted a geological reserve certification in the Uyuni salt flat, involving the drilling of 50-meter deep wells across a substantial portion of the salt desert.
Most of Bolivia’s lithium reserves are located in the Uyuni salt flat, covering an expansive area of approximately 10,000 square kilometers.
Additional reserves are found in Coipasa, Pastos Grandes, and other salt flats within the country’s Andean region.
YLB has identified at least 32 smaller salt flats in Bolivia’s western territory, mainly in the Oruro and Potosí departments.
The current exploration campaign aims to quantify the resources within Bolivia’s salt flats and gain insights into their potential for lithium extraction.
By expanding the reserves, Bolivia seeks to enhance its position as one of the countries with significant evaporite resources, with lithium reserves currently estimated at 21 million tons in the Uyuni salt flat.
The exploration efforts will help inform future plans for the sustainable development of Bolivia’s lithium resources, ensuring its responsible exploitation while meeting global demands.