South America's 'lithium triangle' ready to ride the boom in e-cars

A truck on its way through Chile's Salar de Atacama. The global automotive industry needs batteries for the transition to electric driving, and lithium is key to that. Chile's largest salt flat holds a third of the world's reserves of the mineral. — Ariel Marinkovic/Agencia Uno/dpa

The global automotive industry is in a state of upheaval – and Luis Arce has big plans for how this can benefit his country. The president of Bolivia is hoping to ride the trend towards electromobility, and pull his country out of poverty along the way, with the help of giant lithium deposits.

The South American country wants to get into the lithium business in a big way: While the light metal has thus far been mined only for experimental purposes, plans are now in motion to begin mining the "white gold" on an industrial level.