News Article from a major Mexican Newspaper (Translated)7 Apr 2021 19:49
Mexico's stake in lithium
Ailyn Rios
Mexico City (March 26, 2021) .-
05:00 hrs
For the Government to participate in the exploitation of lithium is unfeasible due to the high investments that are required, specialists assured.
Although this mineral, known as the "white gold" or "oil of the future", is used in batteries for cell phones, electric cars and medicines, exploring the earth and bringing technology to exploit lithium requires several million dollars of capital distributed over long periods. .
In addition, they assure, the Government is prevented from exploiting the mineral, since only mining assignments can be given for exploration.
"The only public mining entity is the Mexican Geological Service and it is impossible to exploit, to do so it has to make a contest to grant the concession to whoever makes the best economic proposal to the Government of Mexico," said Alberto Vázquez, VHG lawyer, office specialized in mining.
For the Government to enter the lithium market, there would have to be a reform of the Mining Law and create a parastatal company dedicated to the exploitation of the mineral.
President López Obrador declared last Wednesday that his Administration is analyzing increasing the State's participation in the exploitation of lithium.
A week earlier, he also ruled out that his government grant lithium concessions, since natural resources have to benefit Mexico.
For Patricia Vivar, a lawyer specialized in VHG mining, that the Executive makes statements about nationalizing lithium is to play with the confidence of national and foreign investors who bet their money on national mining.
"Why don't you include it in the special right as you have to gold, silver and platinum? Instead of doing a whole circus, modify the Federal Law of Rights and add to the lithium to pay an additional royalty, that would be a lot easier and more sensible, "said Vivar.
A mine produces one main mineral and one or more secondary minerals. For example, in Bacanora, the most advanced lithium project in the country, there are not only "white gold" prospects, there is also a presence of potassium.
This diversity of minerals in a single mine suggests that thinking about expropriating lithium could, in the best of cases, lead the miners to choose not to produce it, and in the worst, in the concessions passing into the hands of the State.
"You would be practically issuing an expropriation of all the mining concessions because there is the possibility that in any mining concession, within part of the large amount of minerals that derive from the mine in operation, there is lithium.
"They would find an extremely complicated technical issue. There is no technical solution other than at the end of the concession, the government would basically be withdrawing lithium production from the concessionaire once all the work has been done," said Vázquez.
The companies that exploit gold, silver or platinum must pay the Nation an
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