He mexican presidentAndrés Manuel López Obrador, signed this Saturday a decree that nationalizes lithium, a strategic mineral for the development of new technologies, so that its exploitation is exclusive to the Government.
The extent It is complemented by a reform approved in April 2022 that considers lithium as the property of the nation.
#LithiumMX | Decree of nationalization of lithium.
February 18, 2023. pic.twitter.com/A92LZACUid
– Government of Mexico (@GobiernoMX) February 18, 2023
“What we are doing now is nationalizing lithium so that it cannot be exploited by foreigners, neither from Russia, nor from China, nor from the United States,” said the president in the municipality of Bacadéhuachi, in the state of Sonora, according to a report. of AFP.
Sonora concentrates the largest lithium deposits and has been chosen by the president to launch an ambitious program called Plan Sonora to exploit this mineral.
The reserve zone comprises 234,855 hectares located in the Sonoran municipalities of Arivechi, Divisaderos, Granados, Huásabas, Nácori Chico, Sahuaripa and Bacadéhuachi, the region with the most potential for mineral exploitation in the state.
López Obrador explained that now the technological part of lithium follows. “They are looking for a way to extract it, to process it,” he said.
The previous government of Mexico had granted a concession to Bacanora Lithum, an English company that became the property of a Chinese company and whose contract is being reviewed by the government.
Only in 23 countries has the presence of lithium been detected and it is estimated that Mexico occupies the tenth position in reserves, according to the Ministry of Energy.
However, according to energy experts, it is still unknown if there is a sufficient amount of this mineral for its exploitation and if it will be economically profitable and friendly to the environment.
Exploitation and profitability
Critical to the development of electric car batteries and other technologies, lithium is mainly mined in South America and Australia, with China dominating the supply chain.
The Mexican government, according to AFPhas invited lithium-producing countries and companies to participate in Plan Sonora, including electric car maker Tesla, which is expected to set up a plant in Mexico.
Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard announced on Friday that there will be a phone call between López Obrador and the magnate Elon Musk, owner of Tesla, to talk about where the plant would be installed.
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López Obrador compared this nationalization with the oil expropriation of 1938, which left the exploitation of the so-called black gold in the hands of the State until 2013.
That year, a constitutional reform was approved that opened the market to national and foreign private entities and that López Obrador is now seeking to reverse with controversial secondary reforms.
With information from AFP and EFE.
