RE: Insecurity in Mexico, the challenge to developing a promising lithium industry29 Jan 2020 17:12
Possible 'Chinese Whispers"....This is what I get on Google under the heading of Insecurity in Mexico Lithium Mining and it is nothing to do with validity of concessions.......
"The figure is similar to the reserves that two of the countries with the largest amount of lithium resources in the world have in all their territory, Bolivia or Chile.
If the estimates were confirmed, Mexico could become a key player worldwide in the thriving lithium industry, a fundamental mineral for the manufacture of electric car batteries, laptops and cell phones, said Sergio Almazan, who for 15 years and until 2019 directed the Mining Chamber of Mexico (Camimex).
“The prospects look good for Mexico (but) security, as in the whole industry, not only in mining, is a problem that we have to solve in the country,” said Almazan, who serves as an advisor to Camimex, which groups companies such as the giant Grupo Mexico and Penoles.
“Mining investors are always looking for the best features to invest (and), without a doubt, one of the issues they observe is the issue of security,” he added.
Mexico last year recorded a record 34,582 homicides, according to official data, underlining the challenge facing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to contain the spiral of violence that since 2006 has also left 61,000 missing in the country.
Last week, Coparmex, one of the most important business organizations in the country, warned that violence is causing a loss of confidence in investment and consumption in the Mexican economy.
Mining, which contributes 3.8% to local GDP, has also suffered the ravages of crime. Two months ago, a truck carrying dore bars from a Fresnillo mining unit was assaulted by an armed command.
The lithium deposit, which is estimated to start producing in 2021, is located just over 100 kilometers from the place where in November last year three women and six children from a Mexican-American Mormon community were riddled by alleged members of the crime organized.
It was not possible to immediately get a comment from Bacanora Lithium and Ganfeng.
In a recent interview with Reuters, the Under Secretary of Mining, Francisco Quiroga, said the government worked together with the security forces to give the sector greater confidence. “We’re going to make it harder for something to be stolen,” Quiroga said.
Two other lithium projects are also currently being explored in the northern states of Baja California, San Luis Potosi and Zacatecas, regions that have been suffering violence from organized crime gangs that have disputed control of the territory for years."
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