Lithium: Salta gives the green light to a new project and advances an investment of US$ 250 million

• It is the fourth development in the province.
• In a year and a half, a new plant will be ready to market the mineral.

Puna Mining will invest US$ 250 million to produce and sell lithium in Salar del Rincón, Salta. Photo: Puna Mining

AGUSTINA
DEVINCENZI

0

01/05/2024 17:02/ Updated at 02/05/2024 00:23

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Salta adds anotherlithiumproject with the help of an Argentinewith extensive experience in the sector.The provinceauthorized the national company Puna Miningto market the orethat it began producing, on a trial basis, in Salar del Rincón, department of Los Andes.

After the local Ministry of Mining and Energy issued the Environmental Impact Statement for phase 3, the companyis preparing to move forward with an investment of US$ 250 million. It will be for the construction of a plantthat will be completed in a year and a half,with a capacity to store 12,000 tons.Currently, it produces at the rate of 2,000 tons per year in its pilot plant located in Campo Quijano, which required an outlay of US$ 15 million.

"Today, we are in phase 2, which required US$ 35 million for the installation of evaporation pools and a mining camp.The third will allow the construction of a larger plant to market the product," said Salta chemical engineerPablo Alurralde, founder and president of the firm, whichhe created in 2017 with financing from the Australian Argosy Minerals Limitedin a joint venture.

His son, Francisco, also participates in his companyas general manager; and his son-in-law,Luis Sansot,as chief operating officer.Also his daughters, María José and Rosario, as heads of administration and the area of corporate social responsibility.

The third phase will allow the construction of a plant to commercialize lithium carbonate. Photo: Puna Mining

Unlike multinationals that have mining operations in the north of the country,Puna Mining first tests the technology in its pilot plant and then scales up the project, a procedure that, according to the company, can be carried out because it is a smaller structure. To give it a local imprint,Alurralde designed the technology of the production process to manufacture battery-grade lithium carbonatewith 99.5% purity, a key input for electric car batteries and the supply of renewable energies.

"From the Salar, we obtain the raw material, the brine, which is then treated in a complex process that involves low water and energy consumption to obtain the final product," said the specialist, who, at the end of the '70s,was part of a Conicet research projecton the brines of the Puna salt flats.one of the pioneering works on lithium in Argentina,andworked for the Catamarca project of the American company FMC (today Livent).

The evaluation process for the next stage included citizen participationthrough a public hearing, carried out by the Ministry of Production and Sustainable Development, and prior consultation within the framework of ILO Convention 169, through the Secretariat of Indigenous Affairs.

Salta will soon have four lithium projects: Puna Mining, Posco, Eramet and Ganfeng Lithium. Photo: archive

In 2023, the team grew by almost 30%. Puna Miningemploys 191 employees(53 in Salta and 138 in Rincón).More than 90% comes from the province. During the construction of the new plant,it plans to hire 380 direct employeesand create more than 1,600 indirect jobs.

Litio argentino

De esta forma,Salta suma su cuarto proyecto, aunque en una escala menor a las otras tres plantas que se empezaron a construir de las minerasPosco(de capitales surcoreanos), la francesaErametyGanfeng Lithium(de fondos chinos).

Hoy, hay solo tres grandes proyectos en etapa de producción:Fénix, en el Salar de Hombre Muerto, encabezado por Livent en Catamarca;Salar de Olarozen Jujuy, de Sales de Jujuy y Allkem;y Olaroz Cauchari, también en Jujuy, de la firma Exar (aunque aún no opera con plena capacidad, es la planta local más grande).

El año pasado, la explotación nacional creció un 35%, impulsada por un alza del 61% en diciembre, informó el Indec. De acuerdo a un informe de CRU, consultora internacional con sede regional en Chile y especializada en minería,el país se encamina a ser el segundo productor mundial.

La Argentina juega un papel clave:tiene una reserva de 20 millones de toneladas de litio, según el informe 'Lithium fire' de Baker McKenzie, que, a su vez, anticipó que para 2030 se espera que la demanda de baterías eléctricas represente el 95% de uso total de litio.

SN

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Agustina Devincenzi

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