Global renewable energy construction has been booming in recent years, after a gap of 5 months, the global power battery leader Ningde Times layout of Bolivia's salt lake lithium resources has made new progress. On June 20, the company confirmed that it will invest $1.4 billion to help develop Bolivia's vast but largely uncommercialized salt lake lithium resources, cementing a partnership with the Bolivian government established in January 2023.

This investment amount is an increase from the first phase investment amount of $1 billion revealed by the media in January 2023. On June 18, local time, after meeting with Ningde era executives, Bolivian President Luis. Luis Arce confirmed to Reuters that the two sides will cooperate on the construction of two lithium salt processing plants to extract lithium from Bolivia's two salt lakes of Uyuni and Oruro.

Uyuni Salt Lake, Bolivia

After meeting with the Ningde Times Investment Committee, the two sides confirmed the first phase investment amount of $1.4 billion, President Louis. As a partner, we will also evaluate the possibility of increasing our investment by 2028.

According to the country's energy ministry, construction of the two plants will begin as early as July, and the total investment in follow-up projects is expected to rise to about $9.9 billion. According to the US Geological Survey, the Bolivian salt lakes have an estimated 21 million tonnes of lithium resources, but to date there has been little commercially viable extraction and subsequent processing of lithium products.

On January 20, 2023, Bolivia's state-owned lithium company Yacimientos del Litio Bolivianos (YLB) signed a cooperation agreement with a Chinese consortium led by Ningde Times. In the first phase of the project, Ningde will invest more than $1 billion to build two lithium salt processing plants, which can produce up to 25,000 tons of battery-grade lithium carbonate per year.

In addition to Ningde Times, there are Guangdong Bangpu Cycle Technology Co., Ltd. and mining giant Luoyang Luanchuan Molybdenum Industry Group Co., LTD.

In the previously announced 2022 company annual report, Ningde Times said that in 2022, the company will further improve the layout of battery mineral resources and upstream materials through self-made mining, investment, joint venture cooperation, recycling and other ways to build supply chain resilience. During the reporting period, the company increased investment in the field of battery mineral resources, and promoted the investment, construction and operation of lithium, nickel, phosphorus and other resource projects.

In terms of lithium resources, the company has made breakthroughs in the Yichun lithium bearing China clay project in Jiangxi Province, the Snowe hard rock lithium project in Sichuan Province, and the Salt Lake operation project in Bolivia. In terms of nickel resources, the company and its partners in Indonesia jointly invested in the construction of the whole industrial chain project from laterite nickel mining, smelting, ternary materials to batteries is progressing in an orderly manner; In terms of phosphorus resources, the company has obtained the mining license for the Daping phosphate mine project in Guizhou.

It can be seen that as a global power battery giant, since 2023, in the face of the more volatile domestic lithium carbonate market, Ningde Times is more cautious in investing in upstream lithium resources. Editor/Xu Shengpeng