Mexico’s president plans state lithium company, putting Chinese mine in doubt
- Mexico will create a state lithium company after president declared it a ‘strategic mineral’
- President said mine that involved Chinese company would not be allowed to start production
Mexico’s president said Wednesday he will create a state-owned company to mine lithium and appeared to suggest he will seek to cancel one of the few existing permits held by a Chinese company.
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had said in October that he wants to declare lithium a “strategic mineral” and reserve future exploration and mining to the government. Lithium is a key component of batteries.
It hadn’t been clear if he would rely on private companies to do the work, which Mexico has no experience in. But Lopez Obrador said Wednesday that a newly created government company will do the mining and processing.
The president also said a private lithium mine in the northern state of Sonora that involves a Chinese company would not be allowed to start production.
“What they want to do is to continue looting and that is over. We are going to take legal steps,” Lopez Obrador said.
Asked specifically if that meant the mine would be blocked from operating, Lopez Obrador said. “Lithium is going to be mined by the government.”
That operation, Bacanora Lithium, is Mexico’s only viable private lithium mine, and had been expected to start production in 2023. It is currently owned by Chinese lithium giant Ganfeng International.