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Bolivien, Alti Plano, Salar de Uyuni, aus der Serie "SALAR", Suedamerika, Januar 2011 Engl.: Bolivia, Alti Plano, Salar de Uyuni, from the series "SALAR", South America, January 2011, desert, construction site, salt desert, salt flat, worker, mask, Andes, lithium, lithium production, lithium extraction, Comibol, landscape, travel, blue sky [ In the South West of Bolivia lies the „Salar de Uyuni“, a vast salt flat at an elevation of 3, 656 meters. The crust serves as a source of salt and covers a pool of brine, which is exceptionally rich in lithium. It contains 50 to 70% of the world‘s lithium reserves. Lithium, a key resource for the battery industry, is a strategic asset for the technology development. ..In Llipi Llipi, close to the small village of Rio Grande, some 80 km from Uyuni, Comibol, the Bolivian comission dealing with mineral resources, is building a pilot plant, the first in Bolivia, to extract and process lithium...In the middle of the salt desert, some evaporation pools have been built by Comibol technicians, to test the level of lithium present into the water and experiment with different exctraction processes. This photo shows Comibol workers at the construction site in the middle of the salt desert, close to already existing evaporation pools. Because of high UV radiation, workers wear masks and sun glasses all day.] (KEYSTONE/LAIF/Daniel Hofer)