From his trip to Israel, President Javier Milei brought with him the investment commitment of an Israeli technology company that will implement lithium extraction projects, based on an outlay of $104 million.
This is the company XtraLit, which is mainly dedicated to the development of direct lithium extraction technology and which is thethe first Israeli company to enter the lithium business in Argentina. Currently, that market is dominated by companies from Australia, Canada, China and the United States.
As the mining company specifies in a press release, investments will focus on the exploration of lithium, one of the most sought-after materials in the world with applications in the pharmaceutical industry or in the production of ion batteries.
The top management of
Furthermore, Israeli society will open a research laboratory in the country. Simon Litsyn, co-founder and CEO of, is driven to invest our technology and capital in the country,” he said.
XtraLit currently operates with its technology in some of the most exploited salt pans in the country in terms of lithium extraction. Now the company intends to extract lithium from salt marshes with low concentrations of minerals, in an “economically feasible and environmentally friendly” method, he warned, certainly with the Aboriginal communities inhabiting the areas surrounding the mining projects in mind. Even to those who understand that lithium extraction represents a threat to unique natural spaces of great ecological value such as the Andean wetlands.
According to reports, the Israeli company plans open a production plant for lithium ferrophosphate, a material highly sought after by the battery industry.
Argentina is the fourth largest producer of lithium in the world (behind Australia, Chile and China), the third largest in reserves (behind Chile and Australia) and the second largest in resources (behind Bolivia). It currently has a portfolio of 49 lithium projects. And thanks to the potential concentrated in the so-called “Lithium Triangle”, the country expects to rise to third place as the world’s lithium producer.
The latest INDEC statistics on the sector show that Argentina’s industrial production of hydrocarbons and mining accumulated an increase of 9.7% in 2023. According to the official report, the mining industrial production index (IPI mining) last December , showed an increase of 10.8% compared to the same month in 2022 and an increase of 6.6% monthly.
Mining IPI includes crude oil extraction, increased 9% in 2023; of natural gas, decreased by 0.7%, and support services for the extraction of crude oil and natural gas, increased by 28.5%. The three businesses together increased 11.8% in 2023.
Source: Clarin
