Oct. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Bolivia’s government may sell forward contracts for the lithium carbonate it plans to mine from the Uyuni salt desert, which holds world’s largest deposit of the raw material used in batteries.

The proceeds would help finance an $800 million lithium carbonate plant planned for Uyuni, said Freddy Beltran, mining director at the Mining Ministry. The plant would start commercial output of the white granular compound of metal, carbon and oxygen by 2014, Beltran said yesterday in an interview in La Paz.

“We’re confident we won’t have problems financing the industrial project,” Beltran said outside a conference on lithium-based technologies organized by the Bolivian government.

Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni, a salt flat located in the Potosi province, contains about half the world’s known 11 million metric tons of lithium reserves, according to a U.S. Geological Survey report. Lithium is used to make batteries for portable electronics such as cellular phones and laptop computers, as well as for electric cars.

The government may seek to partner with foreign investors to finance the project. Potential bidders include a French group led by Bollore SA and Eramet SA, as well as a Japanese group that is made up of Mitsubishi Corp. and Sumitomo Corp.

“The Bolivian state will be the proprietor of the industry,” President Evo Morales said at the conference’s opening ceremony yesterday at the central bank. “Foreign companies should accept the role of partners, not bosses.”

Bolivia plans to start a pilot project next year that aims to identify the most efficient way to make lithium carbonate before the government builds a commercial plant.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan J. Levin in La Paz at Jlevin20@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 30, 2009 15:39 EDT