National legislation does not issue permits for specific minerals. And the last change to the mining reform included that only the State would be in charge of the production of the metal.
“The president will soon announce the issue.”, I would wait for the president himself to report it, but we are doing well. I can’t give that scoop,” said former secretary Rocío Nahle, In a recent interview with Expansion , leaving open the possibility that the production concession will be granted to the state-owned LitioMx.
Pablo Taddei, the director of the state company, did not respond to a request for information. The Economy Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
So far no company has a permit to exploit lithium in the country. Taddei, the director of the state company, said in a recent interview with Expansion that the country’s first lithium production would arrive in 2028 without giving more details about where it would come from.
Until now, Bacanora Lithium had the most advanced work in this regard. A few years ago, the subsidiary of the Chinese company managed to develop the method to commercially produce lithium from clay – as found in the Sonora region – and was close to building a plant for the processing of lithium carbonate in the north of the country. with an investment valued at 800 million dollars.
“We do not believe that we do not have the licenses. We continue to believe that they are legally valid. So we will continue to maintain them until we have some legal clarity on this,” Peter Secker, head of the Sonora Lithium project, told Expansion a few weeks ago.
The company has already filed an injunction under Sonora legislation.