Is Bolivia's Lithium-mining Industry Expanding Beyond Its Control?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ก.ย. 2024
- The Electric Range (2010): Can Bolivia capitalise on its huge lithium reserves to power the nation's economy?
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We take a fossil-fuelled adventure from Bolivia's capital La Paz to the alien landscape of Salar. Will Lithium really bring this desperate Country prosperity or will it prove just a lost opportunity?
Salar de Uyuni is the largest salt lake in the world and contains the most lithium on earth. Lithium is used to treat mental illness, build nuclear bombs and power laptops. It is an important ingredient enabling batteries to store and expel power. "They want us to speed up the handover of lithium and to move faster towards capitalist partnerships", explains Jose Pimentel, Bolivian Mines Minister, "But the government's policy has been determined; we're going to take our own decisive steps towards the process of industrialising lithium". Bolivia is stuck in an industrial time warp and wants to control the process closely. The question is will the world wait?
ABC Australia - Ref. 4894
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This explains the coup.
@Scott Laux yeah now they'll be headed to full socialism in a few years unfortunately like Venezuela despite big oil reserves
It failed
Por supuesto el golpe fue por esto por el litio porque Bolivia liderar para nuestros progreso e industrias etc etc para benefició de los bolivianos e igualdad par todos
I’ve listened to 4 minutes of this and it’s obviously sponsored by mining companies
skip to 13mins
"Democracy" is coming soon to Bolivia
Democracy is a good thing,why not
@@mosalah8551 When the US tends to install a "Democracy" they only seem to be that by name, but not by actions.
@Giorgio Mumda tell that to N.korea and China people
Yes replace democracy with communism you dipshit, see how that works out for ya.
Ohhh ósea estabas en dictadura ??te quitaron tu casa no te dejaron hablar te quitaron tu libertad pobre ignórante el año 2019 vivimos dictadura con tus amos añez y Murillo el dictador y robó al estado de Bolivia eso era dictadura pero según ustedes pitas lucharon por la democracia no???
I love the way Bolivia is right now. Poverty is disappearing at a fast rate thanks to Evo Morales government and I like the way he is taking his time. We will not be exploited ever again by foreign investors. The Bolivians are just so happy to live in their own beautiful natural bubble with breathtaking views and their own traditions.
LordSear1982 ...
You are a joke, in a grand scale.
LordSear1982 ...
It's 2018, let it go. Our convo ended last year.
LordSear1982 ...
For being a self proclaimed Bolivian, you def. have the gringo lingo to a T. Good for you.
BRaH your leaders helping you?.. Nope cant have that CIA black ops squad in bound.
Sounds like a wonderland from tales. You are a joke.
The problem with taking their time in exploiting the resource is that technology may overtake them, in particular graphene batteries
They have plenty of that as well
@@captainchokdee1039 well they could take advantage of having both, not just one
Hermanos Bolivianos; no repetiremos los errores del pasado , las riquezas de la Pacha Mama , son para el pueblo libre y unido
The audio is a European Englishman -- not an American. A pesar de ser estadounidense, yo soy un amigo de Bolivia y toda América.
For the ones that watched the video from start to finish, I would remember that even your phone's and electronics in general can be recicled part by part (including the battery!). Simply remember to not just throw it away, you should make sure that it goes into a recycling station via the right bins or services. Or at least try to resell it. Let's begin to improove even more the recycling process by doing the right thing first!
Carlo Carnevali. Recycling can begin at home but I worked at a landfill for many years and all the recycle containers you see at them gets dumped with everything else when no one is looking.
@@joehess5481 Yup millions of lithium batteries are in landfills right now across the world. They won't recycle batteries because they are economically unfeasible. It's cheaper to make new batteries from scratch than recycle them. Let's continue to exploit the indigenous people and there sacred land because we want ridiculous EV's than are powered by coal plants.
Morales needs to talk to the Norwegians. They knew how to exploit their fossil fuels without exploiting their people.
Yes, they go to third world countries and exploit their resources allying with coup d'etat like right now in Brazil, where they bought one oil field paying less than the price for one coca-cola can for each oil barrel. I fully support Bolivia in its own terms. The Europeans did enough damage to its land and people so far.
Norway does no such things, Fabio.
The Norwegians certainly did deplete south American WHALE STOCKS during the 19th Century WHALE OIL BOOM.
Амбер Amber Great, so how exactly does this tell us anything about the Norway of today...?
Daniel Wanner They do! I'm brazillian and I know what I'm talking about.
Good on you. Mine you own. Unfortunately in Australia our weak kneed Politicians kiss ass with any American Mining companies. They take the Lions share back to the USA
and we get the clean up bill. A few locals get FIFO work but our government wont train
people here to do the skilled work. Most of the Expertise is 457 visa imported from anywhere. We have Lithium too. I expect only a privileged few will be allowed to prosper.
Those who live here get to pay for the infrastructure that supports the mining industries.
Aussie mining companies are always heavily burdened with taxes that are not levied to
offshore companies. So Good on you Bolivia.
Pretty much, big mining corps love it here. They take our resources for pennies on the dollar and our kids will be left with nothing. We won't be asteroid mining for centuries, the minerals in the ground are going nowhere so there's absolutely no need to rush.
11:00 "photogenic poverty" whats wrong with the reporter
Dude is breaking it down like a boss at 11:08.
WarlordRising that was better than the other ones running up the street
hahahhaha!
This people speak with arrogance! Always repeating the same thing for centuries, Bolivia the poorest country in South America, instead is the richest country with most of the Lithium of the world, iron the biggest mines of the world, gas and petroleum the second or first producer in Latin American, the most reserves of sweet water in the world, the most variety and biggest ecology in the world. It is not poor all all! It has never been! It is the most lootted country in the world by foreign companies, and by few of its country men from former governments that got so rich and left the country like Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada that lives in USA, or Reyes Villa that lives in USA too and as soon as reached US bought cash an super luxurious home and many others like Marincovich that lives like a king in Brasil with Bolivian stoled money like the others, YES it is a looted country! Also did you know that in 1500 Bolivia saved Europe, Spain more specifically, from disappearing from the map because was so poor and then with Bolivian silver from cerro Potosi was able to be a big an rich empire? Bolivia supported Europe for 4 centuries! And what about its tin who got the most of tin from Bolivia to build airplanes during the Second World War? See qBolivia was blessed so much and that is the curse since every country looted Bolivia for being so tich! So never say again that Bolivia is poor because it's people are also so rich in spirit and have a beautiful culture of sharing and been respectful with everybody.
Thank's my friend to said the true...!
When people start to talk about Bolivia always :
"" Bolivia the poorest country in the World, bla..bla.."
Quiero conocer su bello país: Bolivia! A pesar de que soy estadounidense, por favor espérame! Saludos cordiales. :)
They mean in terms of economic growth, or per capita income b/c the people who think they own the world only care about money and making it. They don't care about the planet or the people. I would LOVE to go to Bolivia!
Companies need to do a far better job of tracking the money they give. Far far too often, those in power steal it! It just happened with Ebola patients! The Red Cross over there stole $6 million from donations given by the US population. It's the last time I donate that way for the next disaster in the world, and to be fair, the US population is more generous with donations during disasters, no matter who they are, than any other nation. Please don't put the US citizens on the same level of bad as the US gov or military or past companies b/c we have a rogue government who doesn't follow the will of the people, or listen to our protests. 1 million in the streets denouncing Iraq war, and they STILL destroyed it. What we say or do makes no difference.
Bolivia podria ser un gran pais.. SIN BOLIVIANOS !! (told to me by an assistant to Rene Barrientos in 1964)
The journalist is Australian yet doesn't mention the even larger deposit of lithium right here in Western Australia. Look up Kidman Resources.
So, if Bolivia wasn't producing any lithium to speak of as of 2010, where are all our Li batteries coming from now?
Why are you trying to make lithium mining look bad? It's the best solution for using electricity as the main power source rather than oil. Use your brain
19:05 LMFAO "Future Trophy Wife"
no...no....dont do it....stay the way u are....
Does Bolivia have freedom, yet?
I Don't understand your question...?
What does mean freedom for You..?
It was joke about America invading countries that was rich in resources but didn't have "freedom & democracy" ;-)
MetallicaSindre you mean like the usa, where 90% of money is with the 1% and the poor get guns and religious freedom to hate and kill each other?
funny a fat american makes jokes. but it your kind who is suffering by obama and bush, the two evils on the same coin but opposite ends.
and your fat americans dont even know it HAAHHAHAHAHAHHA
your on the shit list
You must send your students for studying lndustrial mining, hazards and safety to the countries where these subjects are advanced and research is done. There are many countries you can select different which you are comfortable with .
Keep standing strong with indigenous peoples. No amount of money is worth the exploitation that comes with corporate consumption.
Lithium cannot replace oil because they only store energy, not generate it! I cannot understand how most looks miss that simple fact... meanwhile Chile and Argentina thanks to Bolivia as they can export most of that metal worldwide with less competition.
Of course, this is the reason. If there is massive extraction, hopefully some of the revenue will be used to develop Bolivia. Yes, the increase of more electric will help reduce carbon pollution. We need a robust space program in the world or a country to lead the way.
There will not be any boliva once you remove all of the lithium. The land will start to disintegrate for life to exist.
lithium is not a source of energy any more than a spring in a windup clock is a source of energy.
Isuzu Buyer you just exposed part of the insane misunderstanding of the whole issue...
There is no rush for the BOLIVIAN's the world can wait for Bolivia and with the experience of exploration, impoverishment and been kept in the dark, we do not want to go through that again. Do not put pressure on us, it is our choice. Pay back time!.
This documentary is a clear disrespect to Bolivians and their culture. Why Americans think they are the only ones that could be industrialized? Leave Bolivians to do what ever they want in their country, nobody is telling what Americans should do.
its their right to decide how they want to sell it !
Soon there will be an OLEC to replace OPEC. Lithium prices will skyrocket and electric batteries will be unaffordable. They certainly need to nationalise it all, now.
It is there country, do it at their pace I say.
The difference between lithium and oil:
A electric car will use 15 lb of lithium in a battery pack that will last at least 20 years and can be reused and recycled.
The average car that uses oil will use 12,000 gallons of oil and exhaust the pollution in to the air of our cities fun of people.
Killroy And What will happen in long term where batteries will die and how the disposal will affect the environment
Dude, he mentioned they can be recycled and re-used, even regular acid 12 volt batteries are now reused and refurbished and car batteries are the number one thing recycled these days.@@marvistv6551
@@marvistv6551 Lithium is a salt. Infact a necessary mineral especially for humans. You'll find some people are taking Lithium as a medical treatment. ...[ lithium is, in fact, an essential trace mineral, present in many water systems with some very beneficial effects in the brain. Scientists first figured out lithium could help stabilize mood in bipolar disorder in the late 1800s when the mineral salt was also used to treat gout. ] NOT toxic. You can check on Cobalt (since worth more than lead, batteries will get recycled for Cobalt (and even more Silver) some internet searching will easy your concersns.
stupid people already japan make hidrogen cars ....so bolivia can eat his lithium...with spun,and can drink his polute water.....so he is stupid
I think they are taking the right approach by running their own mining operations. On the other hand, the costs of getting it started might be a bit much. Might be good to have a partner with deep pockets.
So that was in 2010, what about now ?
The reporter seemed impatient about results and pretty arrogant.
You just sum up every documentary made by this channel.
He seemed angry about that the government wants to have control over the resources
It hasn't changed much. Bolivia is in danger of being left behind, again.
In 2018 Bolivian has signed an agreement with a German firm to produce batteries with 51 % of the stocks going to Bolivians
Erick Gomez they choose thw wrong people Germany is failing
Bolivia needs democracy ...says the Americans
feras ashmar hahhaa it's funny actually
LordSear1982 ...
for being a self-proclaimed Bolivian, you speak like a rep0blikkkan gringo.
feras ashmar they don’t need democracy. After all they are doing so great with socialism.
That slogan is code word for greed, cheat and enslavement
Bolivia wants to export its mineral riches, not just as raw materials, but with some added value. Evo Morales said that if a foreign corporation wants to extract (export) lithium to make batteries, they should make the batteries in Bolivia, and take the lithium with the batteries! What is wrong with that? They are already making lithium batteries there.
Lithium is not an energy. It,s a component of batteries that store energy. Comparisons with oil are pointless.
You forgot about one thing: it's rechargible.
Are they? Are they realy? Oil is burnt and gone. Last a short time. Lithium batteries can be charged again and again and it is a fuel source. It stores energy. It is not energy. But you better fukin believe its comparable to oil but it's far better for the environment. Dont be a dumb ass.
It’s comparable to the oil boom or gold rush.
@@Darkstar..... You call him a "dumb ass", yet you write one of the most idiotic comment I have ever read.
Lithium is not a fuel like oil. it is only a component of a battery. It only stores power it doesnt make it..
Have you ever heard strike while the iron is hot? Lithium batteries could very shortly be a past technology. Universities are working on solid state batteries no Lithium needed. If that happens by, by income.
Solid state batteries still need lithium.
You mean graphene supercapacitors. Well, these were "in the near future" a decade ago. They are still "in the near future".
When (and if) they are ready in two or three decades, Li-ion batteries will have 250-400 Wh/kg, charge in 20-40 minutes (depending on chemistry) and cost 50$/kWh or less.
Now match that with a technology that has to be precise on an atomic level - and make it robust to be used in cars for years, without shorting and catching fire.
Once Argentinian and Chilean lithium is sold out, Bolivian Lithium will triple its lithium prices..
Ohhh..M.G...!
Are you a kind of Nostradamus...???
Because, There's a great posibility to be true, that you said...!
And then noone will care about lithium anymore, Evo dictator Morale can put the price tag he wants, cause cars will be moved by other things when chile, australia, argentina, USA, Mongolia, China, India, Peru sold out all it's gigantics reservers as well.
By that time energy will be stored in other type of batteries and lithium will be worth dimes again!!
Very tainted negative journalistic report. Bolivia is tough.
I am afraid that you are very naive of the volatile political situation when it comes to resource exploitation. The U.S. considers the South American countries as vital to their interests and has, can and would, effect regime change like it has so many times before in central and South America, especially a left-wing aligned wing administration. For example, the Salvadore Allende regime change in Chile, the regime changes and coups of several Central American governments, Honduras Nicaragua Panama, Guatemala, etc, etc. This won't end well for Bolivia, unless they take decisive political and economic action, and, sooner rather than later.
@@RU-zm7wj Wake the frick up. I love it when USA families gather at the airport to welcome home the body bags.
Nice documentary.
Hopefully this time nations want steel Bolivia's resources and bolivians remain in poverty.
Best wishes to the Bolivians.
A government running a business? LOL! All those politicians have their fingers in the pie screwing it all up.
The bid problem with big resources such as this is that the government will come to rely on the resource for all it's income. This reliance will result it the government not being responsive to it's citizens. Curuption becomes massive. What has worked in some areas is arrangements where a shareholder arrangement is setup where the shareholders are the citizens of the country (or state as on Alaska, usa) where the proceeds of the resources are distributed to the citizens. The government is then kept dependent on the citizens by obtaining it's revenue through taxes. Yes this has mostly worked in more developed democracies. Though it does not appear to me that this sort of system requires these conditions.
i think they can pull it off without the help of anyone ; they just have to give it time;
these are some of the best documentaries on the internet.......
why the strange downvotes?
Bolivians are doing the right thing they should work with their pace without external dependency remember, slowly and steady wins the race.
As if the corporations wanting the lithium weren't gonna leave toxic waste in their wake also.
He said 100 million tons not 1 million
THIS WHAT THE US.IS AFTER ,LITHUME !!
"we don't want to rush". A very smart decision indeed. Either it is individual's life or the development cycle of a country, keeping calm and patience is always the right way. Hope Bolivia survive and persevere successfully against the industrialist giants.
Don't let those who wish to rope you come in the face of frustration and lack of progress you are better off with your resources if you dont benefit your children will stay resilient focused and take baby steps slowly but surely Peruvian people will prosper
It is a nice refreshment to see some politicians not just using their resources as a quick get rich scheme, like the african countries. this way they can make maybe a sustainable mining business [+waiting longer it will become more valuable]
They push this "green energy" just like they pushed oil and gas, yet my old television sets can't get disposed of because they are too toxic. Solar panels have life spans, batteries have life spans yet everything is toxic when it's used up.
It doesn't matter that the Bolivians are moving so slowly. It isn't like people are rushing out to buy BEVs in large numbers at this point. When the demand is there, the supply will be.
When you talk about demand for a couple hundred thousand vehicles it is not so significant that any player on the lithium supply side needs to rush. Price is significantly affected by supply, so overinvesting in production capacity will push prices through the floor.
let the Bolivians take their time, they are wiser than you think. As a photographer i had the opportunity to see the Chilean side of lithium, how Aymara indigenous people have lost their water because the lithium mining process and how it meant the end of an ancestral and wise culture. Be wise it is not about money it is about life.
Bolivia should seek Russian investment and mining know how. The Bolivian president would be much better off speaking to Mr Putin. Russia learnt by its mining mistakes with the pollution and environmental issues. They now have the best mining and nuclear energy production in the world. They're the world leaders in LNG and oil exportation. This know how would benefit Bolivia massively.
Since Evo Morales took power until he was ousted he triplicated the income of Bolivians
and the annual growth was around 5%... highest than in most countries.
Millions died in the mines..There's 11M people in Bolivia including women and kids.
Stay smart and keep it local Bolivia. It may take longer but the world will still pay for it.
They better start selling it now.
Wont be long until a nano something is found that can store energy way better than lithium.
Dear Bolivians, am so proud of you, take your time. You might not have the technology or the know-how right now but when you do, it will all be there for you and your people and not the greedy Europeans, that never want to treat people of different ethnicity fairly.
"FUTURE TROPHY WIFE" shirt on that miner. XD
Bolivia should have the upper hand here. It's either in their terms or nothing. They're used to live with so little, they can continue doing so. It's like the multinationals need the lithium more than Bolivia needs their money.
Slow and steady. That’s the way to do it.
I didn't know the Grand Canyon had questions.
Why would it be difficult to enter the market place? There's no rush, the Lithium isn't going anywhere, the demand will only climb and if it did drop, they would find other uses for it.
Take your time Bolivia, don't make the same mistake as with Bechtel in 1999.
Today I was Told 43 % of this Lithium is in Australia or perhaps that was West Australia.Hard to believe the rest of the world has only 10% if Bolivia has 50% .
Yes but its not as easy to process.
The politicians will get rich. The big companies will get richer. The poor people of Bolivia will get nothing.
If Bolivia wants to earn money from Lithium for Lithium Ion batteries, they should not wait too long as the next big generation in batteries replaces Lithium with Sodium.
It's possible if Bolivia waits too long the opportunity may pass by.
They have not found any easy supply of lithium anywhere else .
that shirt at 19:10 LMFAO, does the guy wearing it even know what that says?
By now we know all the tactics multinationals use against third world countries
Bolivia knows very well with past exploitation of other minerals where Bolivians
didn't get any of the profits.. Now Bolivia wants to exploit and industrialize the
lithium themselves... no rush... the world is just practically beginning to produce
electric cars..give us a chance.
Hopefully Bolivia will mine it and process it themselves and create a lot of jobs, open up to tech companies to come in and generate a lot more jobs, and actually use the revenue to build modern infrastructure which in turn will open up a lot more opportunities for Bolivians, if this is all managed correctly, Bolivia can become a very rich and advanced nation, but as a latin american myself, I know this will end up in the hands of the corrupt, as it is always the case with anything good in latin american countries.
trying so hard to undercut the effort of the Bolivian people so they will give their valuable resource for cheap, but the people will not budge. Good on them. Never give up your future Bolivia. 50% of the world's lithium carbonate, you have control Bolivia. never give up. Viva Bolivia!
This misses the fact the Bolivia is landlocked and has little means of getting lithium to the oceans without extortionate charges. It also misses the fact that Bolivia is a net creditor. The article also misses the issue of water privatisation in 1998 in Cochabamba and the riots and protests that forced out the consortium of western water companies which had raised prices to around half the annual salary. Previously a lot of smaller companies ran the local electricity supply at extortionate rates so nationalising the energy sector has reduced prices for people in remote regions. The article misses out these key issues and creates a very biased view as though exploitation is 200 or 300 years ago.
Take your time but mind that technology is changing faster than peoples choices to engage as alternatives may arise before this is implemented
best way to eploit the mines by themselves since others did exploit them without appreciation ; it takes technology money to do it ; so what the rush there is out there solution
19:05 future trophy wife
no one lol awesome wife he is going to be.
Hahaha....
That is when I thought... "time to check-out the comments". Poor guy has a shit friend, who speaks some english.
Low key I’m pretty sure the millions of T-shirt’s that don’t get purchased at supercenters are shipped around the world
I think the bolivians are dooing everything right not selling to the litium mining rights to big companies that give a fuck for there enviorment and probbably trying to get away without paying taxes
It is a curse because crooked politicians will be involved.
wow ..this resources worth alot of billion...
The worst strategy is hold onto ur resources... The best is to give them to mini-corporations that are beginning their journey gradually they will transfer knowledge then u start to buy some shares.... Or its useless like Venezuelas oil which shud be abt 8 million barrels per day if pdt
I applaud Bolivia for taking measures to engage the lithium market slowly. Look to the Norway method, use it to bring good to all people. That means government medical benefits, social security, food aid for those that need it.
get it dug up. nothing can grow there , its a baron desert void of life, dig it up and fill it up with seaweed, then grow shit there.
Good for Bolivia. They want to develop the technology to actually make something out of their materials, they want to make and industry around it. Unlike here in Chile, the only goal of these governments is to sell the raw material and get their money fast, instead of investing in technology and selling final produce.
What does poverty mean? Owing money to banks...mortgages, college loans, gas bills, etc. Living without debt is an enemy to capitalism....
These are smart leaders! ...progress may be slow, but at least they OWN it and are the ones controlling it!!!
its south american timescales. things happen... just eventually not as the *timetable* might indicate. Equipment sucks, wages are low & impacts are mostly pride.
Power to the Bolivian President and the Bolivian people. To much change too fast will not be good
It will never be profit. Venezuela 300, Saudi 280, Canada 170, Iran 130, Iraq 120, Kuwait 110, UAE 100, Russia 80, has each billion barrels.
There is only so much lithium, recycling and reuse will be a key industry.
Bolivia has less than 1/5 of the world lithium reserves. Support Morales he speaks for the people not companies.
its proven that civilization can never depends on a resource monopoly. there's a need for alternate of alternate sources so no one individual or group of individual can leverage on civilization as a whole
lol... that big guy in the polluting mine at 19:05 had a shirt that said "future trophy wife"
He’s not giving it away like other is their resources they deserve what is rightfully theirs
THE WINNER IN THIS GAME SHOULD BE THE BOLIVIANS
I think the world should move to win-win solutions. That said Bolivia should certainly be a winner where it's resources are concerned.
Pray Suguitan , it should be, socialism is not the path.
Bolivian seems like relaxed people
reporter sounds pissed about the bolivian policies to take it easy...i wonder how big companies are looking up to this
Bolivia for Bolivian. Yankees off lithium!! Not regiment Changed. 🕊🇧🇴
at the rate that Graphene is being researched for battery and other energy applications, Lithium will be left behind in the dust soon.
Lithium or no lithium, poverty will always define a nation that declares itself a victim, has socialistic corrupt government and doesn't allow free market capitalism. You decide on a percentage, compose a stringent and well defined contract and allow entities with the proper technology to extract Lithium. It's not that difficult.