With the sale of part of its assets, Galaxy Resources plans the development of Sal de Vida
In order to obtain financing for its lithium project located in Antofagasta de la Sierra in the province of Catamarca, the Australian firm agreed to sell a package of mining lands to the South Korean steel company Posco for 280 million dollars, an amount that will be reinvested in full for the construction phase.
With few development developments for the country's potential large gold, silver or copper ventures, the mining business sector emphasizes the good prospects for the start-up of lithium projects in the northern provinces, as well as in the activity exploratory in all the territory that is on the rise.
In this context, today confirms the confirmation of a
new investment in an initiative in Catamarca , for which the firm in charge specified the strategic sale of a property in order to obtain the funds to start the construction phase of what it will be the production plant that is estimated to require two years of work.
After announcing the sale of the land it had in the northern area of the
Salar del Hombre Muerto , the
Australian company Galaxy Resources Ltd confirmed yesterday that it will
destine the 280 million dollars obtained by the commercial operation to finance much of the development of Sal de la
Hombre Muerto. Life in the catamarca puna. The total amount that will be required to pass to the production stage in two years, will reach 400 million of the same currency.
In this way, in addition to the start of the venture, a new actor comes into play at the Argentine lithium table; it is
South Korea's steel company, Posco, which acquired the mining land and plans to focus its business on the battery segment for electric vehicles .
For his part, the president and the vice president of the Australian company in the country, David Guerero and Diego Mendilaharzu, respectively, announced to the provincial authorities that they will begin to invest in the southern area of the enterprise for the construction of everything that has to do with the development of the project, and that within two years they will start producing lithium carbonate molecule.
According to the
Secretary of State for Mining of Catamarca, Rodolfo Micone , in the short term, will be given to the construction of wells and pools, which will imply labor and services. "It is estimated that about 150 people will be required directly to start moving, with a peak in the construction of the plant that will reach 400 to 500 jobs. This is going to happen gradually, but the important thing is that the project is already underway, which is what we wanted, "the official specified.
Galaxy ranks fifth worldwide as a lithium producer and Posco is one of the largest conglomerates in South Korea with operations in steel, engineering and construction, trade and battery materials, "with which we can have two projects in the zone ", analyzed Micone.
"For the province it is good news because it marks what we want and positions us worldwide as a producer of lithium. In two or three years, we could be producing around 60 thousand tons of lithium carbonate, annually. Sal de Vida would produce about 25 thousand tons that would be added to the 40 thousand tons produced by the company Minera del Altiplano (of FMC Corporation, based in Philadelphia, United States) in the province, "he said. Also, Micone completed that another initiative, Tres Quebradas in the town of Fiambalá, is in the final feasibility stage and that, in parallel, this year FMC announced for Catamarca an investment of US $ 300 million to double the current lithium production. by 2019 in its operations.
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