The province of Mendoza started the Environmental Impact Procedure for lithium project “Don Luis”, located in the city of Saint Raphael. The boom of “white gold” is not only felt in the provinces that make up the Lithium Table, (Salta, Jujuy and Catamarca) but now Mendoza also wants to join.
The province issued from Ministry of Energy and Environment the resolutions to initiate the procedure of Environmental Impact Assessment of the lithium salts project in the Salinas del Diamante, San Rafael. The project was presented on Jarillal SA in conjunction with Ampere Lithiuman Australian company that had been visited months ago by Mendoza authorities.
This procedure is part of the process to obtain social license from the communitycalling for a public hearing for November 25. Everyone who wants to participate must register in advance to express their position on the litiferous project. The Minister Jimena Latorre She was “convinced” that this is the way “to build social license in mining by opening the entire process to citizen participation.”
The joint resolution of Mining and Environmental Protection
He Ministry of Energy and Environmentthrough the Directorate of Mining and the Directorate of Environmental Protection, issued the Joint Resolution n.150/24 DM and n. 52/24 DPAformally beginning the Environmental Impact Assessment Procedure of the Don Luis project. The presentation of the project was made by the company El Jarillar SAin conjunction with Ampere Lithiumfor the exploration of lithium salts in the department of San Rafael.
With this resolution all environmental and social impacts will be evaluated that the project will generate. The evaluation will be carried out by the Faculty of Sciences Applied to Industry (FCAI) of the National University of Cuyodesignated by the provincial authorities, which will issue the technical opinion within the deadlines stipulated by current regulations.
Latorre reported that each of the stages of the environmental procedure, following the guidelines of the General Law of the Environment and the Escazú Agreementa regional treaty ratified by Argentina. The purpose of these stages is to guarantee the access to environmental informationthe public participation in environmental decision making and unrestricted access in environmental matters.
For his part, the Mining Director of the province, Jerome Shantai, He maintained that “the progress of these exploration projects is very important in the search for critical minerals necessary for the energy transition, such as lithium.” And he asserted that “for Mendoza this type of mineral is new news, since in In general, the province is characterized by the presence of copper, but the fact that lithium could be another of the minerals that we have in the province presents a great opportunity.”
The Public Hearing
The province ordered that a Public Hearing be held on November 25. From the same it will be possible participate both in person and virtually and it will be done in Alfredo Bufano Congress and Exhibition Center in San Rafael. The registrations to participate in the hearing will be open until November 24, 2024 and can be carried out through the sites of the Directorate of Environmental Protection and the Directorate of Mining of Mendoza.
In addition to the Technical Opinion that the FCAI must carry out, there will be sectoral opinions by various entities. Some will be Municipality of San Rafael, the General Department of Irrigation, the National Directorate of Roads and the Directorate of Protected Areasamong others.
He Environmental Impact Assessment Procedure Its purpose is to ensure that mining exploration activities are carried out under strict safety standards. sustainability and environmental protectioncomplying with provincial and national legislation on environmental matters.
For Shantal, achieving environmental impact statement and subsequent exploration “It would be an important event for geology and for the people of Mendoza.” If the environmental impact statement is approved, the company should submit a new report that says what the extraction method of that mineral is going to be, the production conditions, the market for those minerals.
Source: Ambito
