New State Company Litio Para Mexico Sees Light of Day

After months of speculation and expectation, the Ministry of Energy (SENER) published a decree that founded Mexico’s state-owned lithium company Litio Para Mexico which, according to the official narrative, will protect Mexico’s energy sovereignty. The decree completes what the Mining Law reform started in April 2022. 

The government published a decree in the Federal Official Gazette (DOF) that created Litio Para Mexico (LitioMx) as a decentralized organism. The company will exclusively oversee managing the extraction, transformation and transportation of lithium and its derivatives. According to the decree, Minister of Energy Rocío Nahle will be the Director General. “LitioMx’s main objective is the exploration, exploitation and harnessing of lithium located on national territory, as well as the management and control of the mineral’s value chain,” stated Article 2 of the decree. 

The recently-created company’s structure is specified in Article 9, which states that the Minister of Energy will head the Managing Board. In addition, the board will be formed by the Ministers of Finance, Economy, the Interior and Environment and Natural Resources. All five ministers will have a voice and voting rights regarding decisions. 

The decree states that the Managing Board must be set up within 60 natural days after the publication of the decree. It will have 90 additional days to issue its statutes.

According to Article 6, LitioMx must elaborate strategic programs toward the mid and long term for the exploration, exploitation and harnessing of lithium. The company must also develop and execute projects involving engineering, research and geological studies, as well as activity related to the exploration, exploitation and transformation of lithium. As for the transformation and distribution of lithium derivatives, the company can collaborate with both public and private players. LitioMx is obligated to comply with legislation and undersigned international treaties regarding environmental protection, as well as those protection the rights of Indigenous communities and communes of African descent.

LitioMx’s budget is subjected to the Federal Law for Budgets and Financial Responsibility and the Federation’s Expenditure Budget, among other applicable regulation. The decree states that the company’s assets are revenues from lithium exploitation and its value chains, resources assigned by the federation, tangible and intangible goods given by the federal government and resources transferred or obtained via other institutions.