Mexico seeks to renegotiate lithium concessions granted prior to nationalization

Mexico plans to redefine the terms of lithium concessions awarded before the government nationalized mining of the metal last year, with a view to paving the way for carrying out the Plan Sonora involving the US.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) said in his Thursday press conference that there are "one or two" companies that were granted concessions for the exploitation of lithium.

When asked whether the government would withdraw the concessions or seek agreements with the holders, he replied: “What we’re looking for is to reach an agreement with them in this new framework that lithium already belongs to the nation and that there is already a company for that, a public company [LitioMx], which is the one that will manage all the lithium exploitation. They are working on it, the lawyers are analyzing it and they’re going to talk to these companies.”

AMLO claimed that such concessions are not legalized, nor do they have water permits or environmental impact statements.

“In any case, we’re going to talk to them, because the idea is that the lithium from Mexico, from the nation, is used so that companies, plants, that produce batteries for the automotive industry, for electric cars, are installed in our country, and make a fundamental contribution,” he added.

The so-called Plan Sonora promoted by the López Obrador administration involves investment of US$48bn aimed at strengthening the supply chains between the northern state and the US, promoting the manufacturing of batteries and electric vehicles, as well as the construction of large clean energy power plants. 

Foreign minister Marcelo Ebrard said at the same press conference that the president had presented the Plan Sonora at the North American Leaders’ Summit that ended Wednesday, the roadmap for which establishes that the three countries – Mexico, the US and Canada – understand that "critical minerals are crucial for a sustainable future in the region,” although the AMLO administration has not granted new mining concessions.

The USMCA trade agreement partners agreed “on the importance of making the most of the potential of critical mineral and semiconductor supply chains through the adaptation of government policies to increase investment, the mapping of critical mineral resources and development of capacities,” according to a Mexican government statement.

STRATEGIC MINERALS

Economist José Luis de la Cruz, head of think tank IDIC, said that Mexico, the United States and Canada are clear about the importance of minerals such as lithium, and what the government is proposing to its commercial partners is how to guarantee that this exploitation is in line with the vision that minerals are strategic for the country and its growth, with a positive labor impact and, in addition, being friendly to the environment.

"What is being redefined is, without reverting concessions [already granted], how new ones are going to be and to what extent the State can resume direct mining of some strategic minerals," de la Cruz, who is a former economic studies chief at industrialists’ confederation Concamin, told BNamericas.

“That is what is somewhat on the table, they’re seeking to renegotiate with the economic partners,” he said, adding that, for this reason, the government prefers not to grant new concessions until it has clearer rules of the game.

In 2022, Mexico nationalized the extraction of lithium after reforming the mining law, and in August state company LitioMx was created under the control of the energy ministry to carry out exploration, extraction and processing of the material that is considered strategic for the storage of electricity and, at the same time, Plan Sonora.

The Mexican government, however, has no experience in lithium mining and groups such as chamber of mines Camimex and the association of mining engineers, metallurgists and geologists (AIMMGM) have pointed out that the lithium that has been found in the country is in clays and in low concentrations, which makes it economically unfeasible with known technologies.

The most advanced project is Sonora, which was expected to start construction in 2024 in the northern state and is in the hands of China’s Ganfeng Lithium.

Last June, López Obrador said that the lithium mining concessions already granted would be respected as long as they were in order and there was exploration or production underway. However, he added that they would not be operated by foreign or private sector companies.

There are 20 lithium projects in the BNamericas project profiles database in the states of Sonora, Baja California, Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí and Coahuila.