On 23 June 2026, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on university cooperation was signed between the Tomás Frías Autonomous University (UATF) in Potosí and TUBAF. The Bolivian university, situated in the world’s highest city at an altitude of 4,000 metres, owes its foundation – just like the TU Bergakademie Freiberg – to the silver ore deposits here on the ‘Cerro Rico’ mountain. Key areas of cooperation between the partners include geological exploration of the ore-rich region, sustainability in the extraction and processing of raw materials, the recovery of valuable materials, environmental protection – particularly with regard to water – and renewable energy sources. The focus is on lithium and the rare earth elements, which are strategic metals for Europe.
The two universities have a long tradition of collaboration. In 1962, Bolivian students were sent to Freiberg, and in 1965 the first friendship agreement was signed with the UATF. One of the reasons for this was the presence of German entrepreneurs who had modernised the mining industry in Bolivia. In the period up to 1990, around 45 students, PhD candidates and postdoctoral researchers were trained in Freiberg. Following the re-establishment of contacts around the year 2000 through an EU continuing education project, joint work was carried out between 2008 and 2012 on the development of lithium deposits in the Salar de Uyuni, culminating in the construction of a pilot plant.