Analysis: Decree adds to doubts about Mexican lithium industry's future

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The Mexican government's latest move to tighten control over its potentially lucrative lithium reserves fails to resolve the puzzle of how it can lure needed private industry expertise while keeping most profits for state coffers.

He added that the new decree could mean the government may use its power of expropriation as a tool to force negotiations with companies that already have concessions in the zone, like Chinese lithium miner and battery maker GanfengLast year, Lopez Obrador's allies in Congress enacted a sweeping lithium nationalization aiming to ensure that Mexico can profit from surging demand for the ultra-light metal, which is needed to power future fleets of electric vehicles.

Armando Alatorre, a geologist and lithium expert, said the latest decree could lead to further changes for existing concessions, and he argued that establishing a new legal mining area superimposed over existing mining concessions is a recipe for confusion.Neither Lopez Obrador's office or Mexico's economy ministry, which was part of the decree, responded to a request for comment.

"It is reasonable to expect that the locations just defined may be awarded to LitioMx," according to the research note. To date, no commercial-scale lithium extraction from clay soils has been deployed, meaning the Mexican deposits will likely require new technology, extra investment and perhaps on-site processing plants.Such plants would require a significant spending commitment given their complexity, said energy and mining analyst Ramses Pech.

 

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