“The Argentine Industrial Union (UIA) expresses its concern due to the negative impact that the provincial law 10.608, sanctioned on December 15, 2022 by the Chamber of Deputies of La Rioja will have”. The letter sent by the organization chaired by Daniel Funes de Rioja This was echoed by the regulation which suspends granted exploration permits for 120 days and concessions related to lithium and its derivatives, declaring them of public interest and strategic resources.
After that province’s decision, companies have sounded the alarm and rumors continue to add to the claim. Two Chambers have already pronounced themselves rejecting the possible suspension of the financed projects.
Furthermore, the provision adopted by La Rioja renewed tensions with other provinces. It is precisely in La Rioja that this mineral is not as abundant as in its neighbour Catamarca or in Salta and Jujuy.
Currently, Argentina has two lithium projects underway that are in full expansion of their production capacity: jointly, both exported approximately $700 million in 2022 and generated more than 8,000 registered jobs. “The suspension of concessions and permits it damages this potential future in the regionboth for investments in progress and for those planned for the next few years”, indicated by the Industrial Union.
From the organization that brings together companies, entrepreneurs and masters linked to the sector, they warn that “like any production activity that requires long-term investments, the enhancement of resources such as lithium it needs laws that provide long-term predictability and that empowers companies that add value to assets like lithium.”
In this regard, they underline that the enactment of this law “goes in the opposite direction” to the opportunities Argentina has in terms of: energy transition, federal development, creation of registered jobs and generation of foreign currency from exports.
As stated by the Argentine Chamber of Mining Entrepreneurs (CAEM), if we consider the most advanced projects, the lithium industry plans to invest US$5,000 million over the next few years. In the NOA region, Argentina has six projects under construction and nearly twenty in various stages of progress. When the production stage is reached, the country could rank third globally.
“Depending on the immediate future, it is essential to leaver without effect this provision not yet issued and which is -to this end- under examination by the governor of the province of La Rioja, given that it threatens the challenge that the country faces in terms of development”, they warn from the UIA.
At the end of the letter, the Industrial Union states “a new instance of institutional dialogue” which allows the contributions of the productive sector to be incorporated into the discipline, in compliance with the rules of the game, the only ones that give certainty and confidence to productive investment.
Since its approval on December 15, Law 10.608 has not yet been made official, so it is not yet effective compliance. The only official data is the provincial legislature website, where it was reported that “the project declares lithium and its derivatives strategic natural resources for their contributions to the energy transition and contributions to the socio-economic development of the province”.
What is known so far from the fine print is a 7-article document that was circulating on WhatsApp. There, it is stated “public interest” the study, research, prospection, exploration, exploitation and industrialization of lithium and its derivatives and the valorisation of the products obtained, while prospecting, exploration and mining permits in the province are suspended for 120 days.
NS
Source: Clarin
