Lithium, lithium, lithium
One theme of which more and more is spoken: lithium. As much as if you've heard of the theme or not, I'm very sure that from now on you will hear it more followed. And it is funny, because now lithium is a “theme”, but in fact it is a chemical compound that can find it in the periodic table with the letters “Li”.[caption id="attachment_ 11747" align="aligncenter" width="689"]
To the left above, lithium, the lightest metal that exists.[/caption]
Lithium is a “theme” or better said a “problem” and at the same time a “super Latin American resource”- Yeah, that's all.
This article is largely born thanks to the fabulous "Crônicas do Litio", which wrote Ernesto Picco (large journalist, professor and researcher at UNSE) as well as official documents, interviews and other research.
Where's the lithium? How do you get it?
There's what's called Lithium triangle, whose vertices form the salares of the Argentine north along with the Bolivian and Chilean salares. There is 70% of the world lithium. It is an absolute madness to be such a crucial part of this source of natural resource in the 21st century.Lithium is located in the brine (water with high concentrations of different salts) at a depth of 100 to 500 meters. The water is pumped to these depths to lift the brine and get it on the surface. Then there are different methods to dry and purify. The most used is to leave it in large superficial piletons where the sun evaporates the water. This is one of the main problems that exist today because the areas of the salares are very arid and at the same time the water loss is huge.
Do I need lithium? What for?
It is very likely that at this time it has lithium in your hands. The battery of your phone has a few grams. Your computer too. But the discussion in reality is European and American. Lithium is having its BOOM. Yeah, because it's part of electric car batteries. These batteries can have between 150 and 600kg according to engine power, from where only 2-3% is lithium. Still, its importance is enormous and influences globally. Because many governments start making decisions to reduce the emissions of gases that damage the ozone layer and this has an absolute bond with lithium. For example, Norway, France and the Netherlands are some of the countries that have already banned the sale of cars running fossil fuels by 2030. The US wants up to 2050 50% of cars selling to be electric. At the same time, China will represent for the purposes of 2023 53% of world sales of electric cars. That is, all the powers are playing this game at the same time. And almost none of them have lithium in their territory. .In short, the question is that today lithium is crucial because it is, in many current uses, the main component that will enable us to achieve the energy transition of fossil fuels to renewable energies. And this is because lithium batteries are able to store a lot of energy so you can use at times when not these in connection with some electrical source.
And why does all this create conflict?
As you can imagine, the United States, China, Canada, Germany, Japan, Australia, South Korea and some more have entered or want to explore this ore to the Lithium Triangle. They try to sign long-term contracts with the presidents and governors constantly. As Ernesto Picco says in his book, " For the great powers the Lithium Triangle is a chessboard”.At the same time, a terrible conflict arises with the locals: the native peoples living in the zones are displaced from the places where they probably lived their tataravos too and, worse still, begin to suffer the environmental damage that this industry generates. For example?
Sequins. The water to pump the brine is obtained from rivers near the salares and some of these rivers have already disappeared (such as the Trapiche River in Catamarca). It is sad because it is now trying to divert other rivers to exploitation, which aggravates this situation. This not only modifies the entire ecosystem in this case of the Argentine Puna, but does not allow the locals to work with livestock, which is usually their main activity.
Exploration in Argentina:
Lithium has been exploding in Argentina for 25 years. This is a reality that very few we know, but it is necessary to have it very clear to analyze the current and future situation of our country. To give us an idea, in 1997 the company “Minera del Altiplano” was created. Of this, 90% is Livent, an American company. 10% remains of the government of Catamarca. They started exploring “The Living Man Salar” in Catamarca, one of the best salaries in the world to get lithium for the purity and quantity of reserves it has.In 2018 Livent produced 22,000 tons of lithium and earned $1173 million. It would be logical to think that Argentina, by being the one who owns these resources, will have a good portion of money for endowing the exploited territory. But the Province Catamarca received only 1.5% of perks. Thus, in 2022, a ridiculous sub-factoring of Livent's exports was discovered: it resulted that they exported to their own overseas companies at a price eight times lower than the market price for which Catamarca for a long time received eight times less than the corresponding. It's hard to believe that no one knew that. Lithium, then, is not just a resource, a problem, a chemical compound, can also be corruption.
[caption id="attachment_ 11748" align="aligncenter" width="643"]
Piletões with brine in which water evaporates.[/caption]
On the other hand, there was another company associated with the Jujuy government. This company was Australian, but also had participation, for example, of Toyota among others. In May 2023 he merged with Livent and are now the world's third largest lithium explorer company. In addition, there is only one Argentine company that has experience and the Know-How to explode lithium. Puna Mining This in Phase II, producing 2000 tons per year. Their owners and workers are more salty.
Asi is like Argentina has an immense amount of living rooms to extract lithium. It's interesting to see that it will happen in the near future. The truth is that today Lithium for South America is what oil was for Saudi Arabia in the 70’s.
Argentina, in the value chain?
Another important fact. All projects that are carried out in Puna aim to obtain lithium carbonate. This salt has a value when it is precisely salt. But the industry to produce battery components multiplies this value by four. Cell construction for battery multiplies it by 14 and battery integration to be placed in a car multiplied by a hundred. Well, Argentina now exports only lithium carbonate and as much other salt (which does not vary its value). The worst is that there is lithium also in many countries of Africa, Kazakhstan and Europe, but “the Lithium Triangle sends because there it is cheaper to work” according to Van den Hurk, a highly recognized mining consultant.That is, foreign companies working in Argentina produce and export to the cheapest price in the world. In short, only thanks to Puna Mining we could say that we are only part of the first link in the value chain, With the amount and quality of lithium we have! While the other countries take him to Argentine prices. But is this wrong? Not at all, because we do not have the most advanced technologies to produce cells and other components. These technologies are developing China, the US and Canada. But we also cannot allow tremendous sub-factures or prices much smaller than those of the market. What if, we still have a great hope: inCID( Research and Development Center in Advanced Materials and Jujuy Energy Storage) many scientists who are dedicated to investigating new methods of lithium extraction and water recovery.I wanted someday to be of great use.
To close
Currently, the world's largest producer of batteries is China and this is thanks to the purchase of lithium to Australia, the world's largest lithium explorers in the last two years. In turn, China has many projects under construction and in a state of exploration in Puna to explore lithium in our country. And of course, because we practically offer it. Think that Chile gets 40% of the royalties of lithium exports, Argentina only 1.5%. But wasn't it that exports were terribly under-made? Yeah, that too.Argentina is badly positioned with lithium. Many countries nationalise lithium, others sign contracts where they have the highest percentage of companies created. Argentina not, Argentina the present. A feature that could be strategic to the country facing the world The borders are filtered as if it were just salt. But lithium is much more than that, it is extremely coveted by world powers and will end up being part of almost the entire electric battery produced in the coming decades.
So we can't wait any longer. We must act immediately to take real advantage of this resource that we have buried in our lands.
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