The eyes of the world turned to lithium in the past decadesince the whitish mineral is the fundamental element for the change towards more environmentally friendly mobility schemes.
Three years ago, in 2019, the focus was on Sonora, after a Mining Technology study was published, where it placed the Bacadehuáchi deposit as the largest globallywith reserves estimated at up to 243 million tons.
In the last two years, the relevance of lithium increased globally, and in August of last year, the current administration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador revealed Plan Sonora, a project that seeks to take advantage of solar radiation to obtain clean energy and also the use of lithium. state company LithiumMx is in charge of managing the value chain that can be generated around lithium.
“I have to agree with the government, not with Ganfeng”
Giovanni De Luna, CEO of the company, had several conversations with Alfonso Durazo, governor of Sonora and also coordinator of LitioMx, as well as with Armando Villa, the entity’s Secretary of Economy.
“They talked to us. they convinced us to go to Sonora: they provided us with space, we are talking about 15,000 square meters in an industrial park that is being developed practically in the city of Hermosillo”, says the manager in an interview with Expansion.
Although the government of the entity has not yet given a formal announcement of the start-up of the plant, De Luna expects it to be carried out by the end of this month.
The only deposit with proven lithium reserves is in the hands of Gangfeng Lithiuma company of Chinese origin that has not issued any position on the regulatory modifications of April last year, which establish said mineral as a State resource, through LitioMx.
“The one I have to agree with is the government, not Ganfeng. The Law is very clear, what the president has said and how the government is acting. So it is very clear that I have to agree with LitioMxwith its general director, Pablo Daniel Taddei Arriola and, obviously, with the person who coordinates the Sonora Plan, who is the governor of Alfonso Durazo, we have no other choice”, he adds.
Despite what was previously said by the Mining Chamber of Mexico, regarding the fact that the exploitation of lithium in the country is not viable, because it is found in clay, both Durazo and De Luna calculate that one ton will have a processing fee of $4,000thus becoming, from his perspective, a business opportunity.