Mexico City [Mexico], February 20: The Mexican government plans to nationalize lithium mines, which play a key role in the production of electric vehicle batteries and rechargeable electronic devices.
Foreign companies will be excluded from lithium mining operations after Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador directed the process of nationalizing the mineral known as "white gold", RT reported on February 19. .
The transfer of lithium mines to the Mexican Ministry of Energy followed a signing event in the Bacadehuachi district of Sonora state last year. The government also plans an area of 2,500 square kilometers as a national lithium mining area.
Bacadehuachi, which borders the United States, is home to Mexico's largest lithium mines, and was chosen by the president of the country as the launch site of an ambitious program called the Sonora Plan.
This is a strategic plan to exploit the mineral that is used in the production of smartphones, car batteries and rechargeable electronic devices.
Last April, Mexico approved a bill to nationalize lithium mining, giving state-owned company Litio para Mexico a monopoly on mining. At the time, President Obrador pledged to review contracts with foreign companies that are mining lithium in the country.
In his latest directive, Mr. Obrador ordered the energy department to take all necessary actions to expedite the nationalization of precious metals.
For a long time, Mexican authorities have had no experience in lithium mining or commercial production of the metal. Instead, foreign corporations have been involved in the process.
Specifically, China's Ganfeng Mining Company is developing the country's largest lithium project at the Sonora mine, holding the right to exploit up to three-quarters of the minerals in Sonora Lithium. The future of cooperation between this company and the Mexican government is unclear.
Source: ThanhNien Newspaper
