Argentina has steadily enhanced its stature among the world’s top lithium-producing nations. It aims to surpass China and take spot number three behind Australia and Chile.
This goal does not appear to be unrealistic when considering recent predictions. The South American nation’s Chamber of Mining Entrepreneurs (CAEM) just revealed that the country’s lithium carbonate output has tripled in the last two years.
“The recent inauguration of Centenario Ratones [run by Eramet and Tsingshan’s joint venture Eramine], the fourth lithium production plant in our country and the first in Salta, add to a series of new projects and expansions that tripled installed capacity in just two years,” CAEM said on Tuesday.
Argentina’s domestic mining organization says the country’s lithium carbonate equivalent production potential has accelerated immensely from about 37,500 tons to 136,500 since 2022.
[#Lithium in Argentina] Official commissioning of #Eramet's Direct Lithium Extraction plant in Argentina! 🙌
Press release : https://t.co/a7Rrm5qFo3 pic.twitter.com/sPWVBPidp5
— Eramet (@GroupeEramet) July 4, 2024
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Argentine government now predicts two-fold increase, almost
This new assessment follows a government report in early July showing that Argentina’s overall lithium output was expected to nearly double in the coming months. Four projects in the nation’s lithium-rich provinces entering the production phase in the immediate future will make this possible.
Namely, in addition to Centenario, Ganfeng Lithium’s (SHE: 002460) Mariana project; the Tres Quebradas asset being developed by Zijin Mining (SHA: 601899); and Sal de Oro, run by Posco Holdings Inc (KRX: 005490).
Eramet and Tsingshan’s production plant in the Salta province, valued at nearly C$1.2 billion, is expected to produce 24,000 metric tons per year alone beginning mid-way through next year. Their plant will be one of the world’s first to test direct lithium extraction at such a large scale.
Salta is home to several development-stage lithium assets too, such as the Hombre Muerto North project — a 1.58 million-tonne resource held by Lithium South Development Corporation (TSX-V: LIS) (OTCQB: LISMF) (Frankfurt: OGPQ).
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