The Deposit
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| Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia Courtesy of Anouchka Unel |
Bolivia's Salar de Uyuni, is the world's largest salt flat at 10,582 square kilometers. It's part of Bolivia's Altoplano at an altitude of 3,656m. The Salar was formed as a result of transformations between several prehistoric lakes. It is covered with a solid salt crust varying in thickness between tens of centimeters and a few meters.The brine below the salt crust is a saturated solution of Sodium Chloride, Potassium Chloride, Lithium Chloride, Magnesium Chloride and Borax in water. Of those, Lithium is most valuable as it is a vital component of many electric rechargeable batteries. With estimated 9,000,000 tonnes, Bolivia holds about 50% of the world's Lithium reserves according to USGS. Salar de Uyuni is estimated to contain 10 billion tonnes of salts. Lithium is concentrated in the brine under the salt crust at a relatively high concentration of about 0.3%.
