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Eramet CEO says plans FID on Argentina lithium project in Q1 2020

Reuters | November 15, 2019 | 8:51 am Latin America Lithium

Centenario salt lake. Image by Eramet

French mining company Erametplans to make a final investment decision (FID) in thefirst quarter of 2020 on its lithium development project inArgentina, with an aim to start production by the end of 2021,CEO Christel Bories said on Friday.

Eramet earlier predicted the FID would be made at theearliest in the fourth quarter of this year, but the decisionhas been slightly delayed due to the change in Argentina’sgovernment, Bories said.

“It’s more probable that we will make the decision earlynext year, but we are talking about (a delay of) a couple ofmonths,” she told a news conference in Tokyo.

The company is in talks with potential customers and it hasalready tested product from the pilot plant with some potentialcustomers, she added.

Another official at the company said potential customersinclude companies in Japan, China and Europe and some letters ofintent and memorandums of understanding have been signed.

Eramet plans to produce 3,000 tonnes of battery-gradelithium carbonate in 2021 and increase output to 24,000 tonnesin 2024.

In June, Eramet approved the development of a lithium minein Argentina as it pursues a shift towards minerals used topower electric vehicles to meet burgeoning demand.

(By Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Jason Neely)