LA PAZ, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Bolivia's government has launched a new international tender for companies to extract lithium from the country's salt flats, Hydrocarbons and Energy Minister Franklin Molina said on Friday.

The tender, launched by state-owned Yacimientos de Litio Bolivianos (YLB), seeks to develop projects in various salt flats in the South American country's Altiplano region. (Reporting by Daniel Ramos; Editing by Daina Beth Solomon)