Argentine Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero signed an agreement in Seoul with steel company Posco, whereby the South Korean company will invest US$ 1.7 billion for the production of lithium carbonate in the provinces of Salta and Catamarca.
Lithium exports from Argentina are poised to increase in the coming years, specifically from 34,000 tons to 400,000 tons of lithium carbonate, as mentioned by the Mining Secretary, Fernanda Ávila in Buenos Aires.
According to a study by Argentina's National Institute of Statistics and Census (Indec) released Monday, the mining industrial production index (IPI minero) reported a 10.7% year-on-year increase from June 2022 while crude oil production rose 8.2% interannually. Overall, industrial production of hydrocarbons and mining had an 11% increase in the first semester of 2023.
This week Brazil shipped the world’s first green lithium, produced in the Jequitinhonha Valley, in Minas Gerais, from the Port of Vitória (Espirito Santo State). The production, by Sigma Lithium, is a pioneer for having raised the level of industrial sustainability by being triple zero (zero carbon, zero waste and zero harmful chemicals). Lithium is used in electric vehicle batteries.
Argentina's first National Plant for the Technological Development of Lithium Cells and Batteries will start production in September on the premises of the National University of La Plata (UNLP), Y-TEC (a subsidiary of the state-owned oil company YPF) head Roberto Salvarezza announced Thursday.
The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) Thursday published a report called “Extraction and industrialization of lithium. Opportunities and challenges for Latin America and the Caribbean,” recommending the region's countries devise a productive development agenda around lithium to promote its extraction for the benefit of economic activities directly and indirectly related to the mineral.
Argentina will overtake Chile as the world's second-largest lithium producer by 2035, according to the Chilean Copper Commission (Cochilco), it was reported in Santiago.
The European Union is working on agreements with Argentina and Chile with the purpose of increasing access to critical minerals such as lithium, essential for the batteries of electric automobiles and to comply with the EU's less carbon-intensive economy guidelines.
Chile's Government Monday approved the creation of the Lithium and Salt Flats Committee to add to the National Lithium Strategy announced last month in areas involving the Economic Development Agency (Corfo) and also as a technical advisory body, it was reported in Santiago.
A group of lawmakers from Argentine's ruling Everybody's Front (Frente de Todos - FdT) has launched an initiative to nationalize the country's lithium resources, it was reported Wednesday in Buenos Aires.