Senators Call For the Creation of A New Lithium Council

Senators have requested the creation of a new government body to be in charge of promoting the development of the lithium industry in Mexcio. Although, the government previously created Litio para México (LitioMx) to control and secure lithium-related opportunities, senators argue there should be another body in charge of promotion.

On Sept. 20, five senators from the Labor Party (PT), an ally of the current ruling party MORENA, called on Congress to create a new council for the promotion and development of the lithium industry in the country. The motion has already been sent to the mining, regional development and legislative studies commissions, reported BNamericas.

According to the proposal, the new council will be formed by the Ministries of Interior, Energy, Economy and Environment, the Mexican Geological Survey (SGM), CONACYT and LitioMx. The latter was created on Aug. 23 and will exclusively oversee the extraction, transformation and transportation of lithium and its derivatives.

Senators proposed that the new council meets every six months. They said it should also be in charge of developing and implementing policies for the exchange of key information among all agencies involved in creating stronger and more optimized supply chains, as well as innovation for the extraction, processing and use of lithium.

The proposal is in line with the Mexican government's objective of transforming the country into a key hub for the production and supply of lithium, especially in batteries and electric vehicles. Recently, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard announced that the governments of Mexico and Bolivia have initiated efforts to cooperate beyond the exploitation of lithium. The governments and their companies will cooperate along the entire value chain. However, some experts say that Mexico would benefit more from joining forces with different key lithium-producing countries.

Currently, the country has not yet produced lithium. However, in terms of potential, Mexico's reserves look promising, ranking ninth among the largest lithium reserves at 1.7 million tons, the US Geological Survey reported. Nevertheless, mining experts have warned that despite the government nationalizing the resource and creating LitioMx, it will not be able to exploit the resource for another seven to 13 years due to a lack of studies, technology and adequate extraction methods to make lithium exploitation economically viable.