Please join the Payne Institute for Public Policy at the Colorado School of Mines as we welcome Pedro Lagrava Burgoa, Bolivian Senator for Potisi, presenting a hybrid seminar titled the Scenario for Bolivian Mining and Lithium on Wednesday, November 15, 2023 in Golden, CO.

Pedro Lagrava Burgoa has represented the Department of Potosi since 2020 as a Senator of Bolivia being a member of the political party Comunidad Ciudadana. He serves in the Senate Committees on “Planning, Economic Policy and Finance,” “Plural Economy, Production, Industry and Industrialization,” and “Social Policy, Education and Health.” Before his election to the Senate, Senator Lagrava served as the Representant from Potosi to the Bolivian Constituent Assembly in charge of writing the new constitution. He was a candidate for Governor, and candidate to the House of Representatives for the Potosi Department. He also served as the president of the Association of Metallurgical Companies in the southern part of Bolivia where he led significant environmental projects eliminating mining pollution to the Pilcomayo River that flows into the Rio de la Plata in Argentina and to the Atlantic Ocean.

In the private sector Senator Lagrava has been the CEO of Grupo Minero Bolivar since 1996, and serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors of AguaDeMina, SRL. He advanced his career working for several metallurgical companies. Previously, he was a Professor and Director of the Metallurgy Research Institute at the Universidad Mayor de San Andres in La Paz; and was the founder of the Journal Bolivian Metallurgy Report.

In his position, Senator Lagrava is recognized for working to address Bolivia’s challenges in the mining, environment, and energy areas even working with the far left in power. He has a reputation of being a pragmatic and independent thinker with vision for Bolivia’s natural resources. Currently he leads the fight in the southern part of Bolivia to create jobs and support the working class.

Pedro Lagrava earned his bachelor’s degree in Metallurgical Engineering from the Universidad Mayor de San Andres, in Bolivia, and his Master’s degree in Extractive Metallurgy from the Universidad de Concepcion, in Chile. He is a father of a son and a daughter, and lives with his wife in Potosi, Bolivia.