With a grain of salt, in addition to showing common sense, much more can be done. This is what the government of Evo Morales thinks, as it hopes to exploit lithium, an alkali metal similar to sodium, to lift Bolivia out of poverty. In addition to being used in the production of ceramics and antipsychotic drugs, lithium ions are used to make batteries for everyday high-tech objects: laptops and cell phones, just to name a few. An extremely important market that will grow in value with the development of hybrid engine cars.
The Andean salt plains, dried-up bottoms of ancient oceans such as the 10 sq km Salar de Uyuni, contain more than ten million tons of lithium, about 50% of the world's known reserves. The socialist government of President Morales would like to maintain state control over the extraction of the material and manufacture industrial applications of lithium on site, so as to maximize the benefits for the local economy. A pilot plant will go into operation in autumn 2011. However, Bolivia needs foreign capital and know-how to be able to develop production. Brazilian mining giant Vale has expressed interest in commercial exploitation of the resource, as has South Korea. However, roaring Brazilian capitalism can put supplies of natural gas on the table, which La Paz desperately needs. An all-South American match, which the Europeans and Americans have so far ignored with little foresight.
