Bolivia, Argentina, Chile and Mexico, the countries participating in the “Perspectives of Lithium from Latin America” forum on April 13-14, agreed to deepen the dialogue on this mineral at an international presidential congress to be held this year announced the Bolivian Minister for Hydrocarbons, Franklin Molina.
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Bolivia will host the first Latin American Lithium Forum
These countries are aware of the enormous challenges that the new energy transition agenda towards renewable energy and electric mobility poses today, but also of the main role that this energy transition plays in the geopolitical disputes that today dominate international relations.
“Given the different historical experiences in each of the countries that hold important litiferous reserves, we may wonder in the future whether it is possible to design new sustainable extractive and productive systems today aimed at fulfilling our own transition plans. and under what social and economic, political and geopolitical, technological and socio-environmental conditions,” the minister said.
“To address these and other issues, we will host the ‘International Lithium Congress’, which will be held face-to-face and will be attended by the highest political authorities from Bolivia, Argentina, Chile and Mexico,” he added.
The meeting will also be attended by the main leaders of academic, professional and social organizations from different disciplines, institutions and nationalities under the auspices of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) together with the United Nations.
Country representatives and ECLAC agreed that lithium is a strategic resource that helps mitigate climate change and stressed the need to develop innovative and environmentally friendly strategies for exploiting and industrializing this natural resource.
Head of ECLAC’s Natural Resources Division, Jeannette Sánchez Zurita, opened the forum’s session to indicate that the energy transition and growing production of electric mobility will require more amounts of lithium.
Meanwhile, Chilean Mines Minister Marcela Hernando said her country has 63 saline environments with potential in 18 salt flats, with the Atacama Salt Flat being the most relevant, as part of her presentation, “Lithium in Chile: Current News and Prospects”.
According to Hernando, in order to use the metal for the good of his country, it is necessary to overcome some difficulties, such as the lack of knowledge about the behavior of the salt pans and their social and environmental sustainability.
In this sense, he assured that after President Gabriel Boric came to power, there was an intention to create the national company Lithium, in order to develop a new industry with the participation of the communities, among other things to ensure sustainable management with respect to the communities.
For his part, the Undersecretary for Institutional Coordination of the Argentine Energy Secretariat, Guillermo Usandivaras, attending on behalf of Energy Minister Darío Martínez, looked back on the two decades of production of this resource, which currently includes two mining projects, two for exploitation, two for construction and 50 for the exploration.
Usandivaras commented that lithium was beginning to become part of the first tier mines that, under Argentina’s Mining Code, can be acquired by private, national or foreign agents through provincial mining concessions without strings attached.
Mexican Energy Minister Rocío Nahle García reported that her country has 1.7 million tons of lithium reserves, according to the United States Geological Institute.
That @GobiernoMX participates in the International Forum “Prospects of LITHIUM from Latin America”.
With the energy ministers of the sister countries Chile, Bolivia, Argentina and the ECLAC representative.The state is indispensable for its administration and regulation.
���������������� pic.twitter.com/UtEmdf5b0Q– Rocío Nahle (@rocionahle)
April 13, 2022
Mexico has 36 lithium industry concessions, 27 of which are currently active and controlled by 10 foreign corporations. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced in the past few days that he would submit a bill to nationalize lithium.
Similarly, Head of Hydrocarbons and Energy of Bolivia, Franklin Molina, stated that one of the main concerns of the forum’s members is “ensuring energy security and sustainability to have a reliable supply”.
“Our Latin America is becoming a fundamental player in the global energy context, since more than half of the world’s reserves are located in the countries of Bolivia, Argentina and Chile. This puts us in an important geopolitical context as lithium content in the region is a key factor in ongoing energy transition strategies,” he stressed.