Chamber of Mines in Argentina’s Salta province speaks out against lithium nationalization

The Chamber of Mines in Argentina’s Salta province is pushing for the South American country to move away from proposals to nationalize its lithium resources.

In an interview with the local newspaper Nuevo Diario, Facundo Huidobro, a member of the Chamber’s board of directors, said that private investment must be protected and that it would be unconstitutional for Argentina to follow the steps of Chile and Bolivia when it comes to the ownership of lithium resources. 

In Huidobro’s view, Argentina currently holds the upper hand compared to its neighbours because lithium concessions are still negotiated between private investors and provinces.

Salta province, in northwestern Argentina, is home to six advanced lithium projects with operational pilot plants and four early development projects, such as those of Vancouver-based ​​Argentina Lithium (TSXV: LIT) and Calgary-based Lithium Chile (TSXV: LITH).

“Investments come over from countries like Canada, which have been doing this for years,” Huidobro told the newspaper. “If you were to ask me what’s the most important thing for the future of mining, I would say that it is to avoid changing the rules that we already have. Investments need long-term predictability; this is how Salta has grown in the last few years. In Argentina, there are 50 to 60 companies that are listed in the stock market and 60% of them have the intention to come to Salta.”

For the executive, it is important for the province to continue fostering foreign investments and speeding up permitting process.  

The has been some discord in Argentina’s lithium-rich provinces — Salta, Jujuy and Catamarca — following early, informal discussions in the national parliament regarding the possibility of declaring lithium as a ‘strategic resource,’ which would imply stricter government control over the extraction and processing of the battery metal. 

Local media have reported that the ruling Frente de Todos plans to present a new legal package that includes a bill to nationalize the country’s lithium resources and a proposal to create a binational company with Bolivia to jointly develop lithium production.

Argentina is the fourth largest global lithium supplier after Australia, Chile and China and is part of the so-called Lithium Triangle, where more than half of the world’s identified resources of the mineral are found. The Triangle is a unique stripe of high-altitude land covered with lakes and white salt flats that straddles Chile, Argentina and Bolivia.