Mexico to discuss lithium with Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced on April 27 that a meeting would be held with Chile, Bolivia, and Argentina to share experiences regarding the management of lithium after having nationalized the energy resource.

During his usual morning press conference, the President said that the Secretary of Foreign Affairs (SRE), Marcelo Ebrard, will officially announce the meeting in the next few days.

López Obrador specified that this meeting “will help a lot to gather experiences and that we can define the characteristics of the Mexican company that will manage the lithium resources, the research support required”.

The declarations were made after the government nationalized the exploitation of lithium last April 20, employing the reforms to the Mining Law.

In this sense, the Head of State affirmed that: “There are countries where lithium has already been nationalized, as is the case of Bolivia, in the case of Argentina and Chile it is not so, but the governments of Chile and Argentina are interested in this union”.

Regarding the availability of resources for the costly exploitation of the so-called “white gold”, the president stated that: “It depends a lot on the economic capacity of the government and fortunately we are doing well in tax collection, which is a good indicator”.

The decision to nationalize the energy resource has been celebrated by several experts.

Alberto Moritz Cruz, a researcher at the Economic Research Institute of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, considers that: “Beyond the merely economic aspect, what is relevant is that the State explores, exploits and takes advantage of this resource, channeling it towards strategic areas”.