Why Mexico will review the contracts for the exploitation of lithium, key for electric cars and cell phones

The government of Mexico announced this Tuesday that it will review the current contracts for the exploitation of lithium, one day after the Chamber of Deputies approved the nationalization of the mineral.

“All contracts, those authorized for lithium, will be reviewed,” said the Mexican president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO)at his usual morning press conference.

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The president specifically announced that The contract to exploit lithium that was in the hands of a British company and that became the property of a Chinese company will be reviewed.

“That has to be reviewed and it has to be seen if the procedures were followed,” he pointed.

Lopez Obrador He added that some 150,000 hectares were delivered for the exploitation of the mineral during the government of his successor, Enrique Peña Nieto (2012-2018).

He also celebrated that the Chamber of Deputies -dominated by his party, Morena- approved reforms to the mining law that allow the nationalization of lithium, a key mineral for batteries for electric cars, cell phones and new technologies.

This reform must still be approved by the Senate, where Brunette it also also has a majority, which is expected to happen this Tuesday.

“We are going to develop the technology (to exploit it) or acquire it, but the lithium is ours”, stressed the president. In the country there are eight concessions granted to exploit the mineral.

López Obrador sent to Congress the initiative to nationalize lithium after his constitutional reform on electricity did not reach the necessary votes to be approved in the Chamber of Deputies.

The lithium it is mainly mined in South America and Australia, with China dominating the supply chain.

Mexico has deposits of this mineral located mostly in the northern state of Sonora, where drug traffickers and other organized crime gangs operate.

Source: Elcomercio

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