Electric cars: Argentina wants to be the world's second largest lithium producer, the future "white oil"

Argentina's goal is to become the world's second largest lithium producer in 2022. This was confirmed by the Under Secretary of Mining Development of the Nation, Mariano Lamothe, in front of a Canadian environment (Resource World) during a visit to Vancouver.

The amount the mining sector plans for 2022 is 290,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate per year. Thus, current production would triple. In 2018, three new mines began operating and three more began to be built, revealed the undersecretary.

Lamothe also announced that local exploration investment over the past year has risen to $ 250 million, but points out "to reach $ 400 million a year, at least, for the development of our full potential for different mining projects. "

According to his statements, Fourteen national lithium projects are in advanced stages and more than forty, at an initial stage of exploration. "Not only is the geological potential good, but we also have favorable regulations to help invest in the area where the saltworks are," he said.

Experts believe that when electric cars enter the market en mbade, lithium, a mineral extracted from the salt marshes of La Puna, it will be the next "white oil". This lightweight metal is essential for the production of batteries using vehicles free of gaseous emissions at the present time.

About 85% of the global reserves of this product that started trading on the stock exchange last year (in London, for example) they are in the "lithium triangle" between Argentina, Bolivia and Chile; while China, South Korea and Japan (the major electronics manufacturers) are the biggest consumers.

The cost of its operation for lithium-ion batteries (about US $ 25,000) is now one of the obstacles to its mbadification, but it is estimated that for the next decade it will be considerably less.

As long as a new technology more favorable to the production of batteries will not appear, lithium will eventually become one of the most sought after minerals on the planet. And Argentina claims to be prepared for that.