“There is a company that had some exploratory work in a very small, very limited area, so they are seeking to reach an agreement with them not to start a legal process but to seek an agreement, a conciliation,” said the president in his daily conference .
López Obrador explained that the Ministry of the Economy was looking into the matter, but the agency did not immediately clarify whether the company was Ganfeng when asked for comment.
The president anticipated last week that on February 19 he would be in Sonora because his administration would give the first concessions for the exploitation of the mineral to a recently constituted state company, Litio para México (LitioMX).
The creation of LitioMX was one of the first government steps after Congress approved a project by the president to nationalize the mineral, highly demanded in the thriving electric car industry, which Mexico develops together with its trading partners in North America, the United States and Canada.
Lithium is generally mined from rocks or brines, but lithium found in the country is mostly in clay deposits, from which the metal has never been extracted commercially, and industry experts doubt it could be done without the experience of a private entity.
“They want to have the mine but they don’t have the permits,” the president said on Tuesday, although he opened the door to a possible arrangement.
“We are looking for an agreement with them to enforce the law, which is going to be enforced, but we need to convince, persuade, reach agreements, not impose anything,” he said.