American startup EnergyX and Argentine energy firm Tecpetrol have been disqualified from a race to mine Bolivian lithium, the government said, as the country aims to tap its vast resources in partnership with one or more foreign companies.
Bolivia has the world’s largest lithium resources but it has struggled for decades to mine them commercially, amping up its efforts last year amid a surge in demand for batteries for electric vehicles.
Six firms are still competing to secure a partnership. They include Russia’s Uranium One, U.S. startup Lilac Solutions—backed by German carmaker BMW and Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Ventures—and giant Chinese battery maker CATL. The others are Chinese firms Fusion Enertech, TBEA Co. Ltd., and CITIC Guoan Group Co….