Although he did not specify further details, he indicated that with the law the permits “come back here and, later when companies want to invest, gladlybut the conditions will be set by La Rioja”.
The exports of this mineral accumulate US$ 593 million between January and November, and although the data for December is missing, from the Ministry of Economy, headed by Sergio Massa, anticipate that the year will close with a record, close to US$700 million
Provincial Law 10,608, sanctioned on December 15 last by the La Rioja Chamber of Deputies but not yet promulgated, suspends for 120 days the granted permits for exploration and concessions related to this mineral.
Until now There are no lithium projects or mines in the provincesince its presence still needs to be explored, butless than a month before the enactment of the lawlast November, the provincial government granted a permit to the Canadian mining company Origin Resources to explore in an area of 21,000 hectares.
“The province is in a position to do the exploration and then it will invite all the companies that want to investbut whenever it suits the people of La Rioja, La Rioja, the country and the companies as well,” added the provincial president.
Quintela pointed out that the claim is that the mining companies “Don’t take the wealth of our country”, and that lithium “return as a finished product.”
“The government has to have a strong presence in the negotiation of how to industrialize the raw material of lithium in the country,” said the provincial president, and criticized that “the largest portion of the pie is taken by the companies.” After that, he stressed: “We are going to set our conditions because lithium is ours, the Argentines, not theirs“.
The president of La Rioja, however, recognized the “strong malaise in the sectors linked to mining” against the measure, which was criticized by various business entities. “The promulgation of this law goes in the opposite direction to the opportunities that Argentina has in terms of energy transition, federal development, creation of registered employment and generation of foreign currency from exports,” they affirmed from the Argentine Industrial Union (UIA) Wednesday in a statement.
For her part, the Argentine Chamber of Mining Entrepreneurs (CAEM) considered “essential to act coherently and respect the current legal framework, which is what allows mining investment in Argentina, to generate socioeconomic development in all regions and contribute to the energy transition.”
In the same line, the Argentine Chamber of Construction (Camarco) stated that “the development of any industry, for the existing work and for possible investments, should be encouraged from the respect for the current legal framework“, and under “adequate conditions to achieve a correct and productive development”.
Source: Ambito
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