BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – China’s Ganfeng Lithium mining company has begun producing lithium at its Mariana project in northern Argentina, it said on Wednesday, kicking off one of several of its new lithium projects under way in the South American country.
Ganfeng is one of the world’s biggest producers of the white metal that is mainly used to make rechargeable batteries.
The Mariana plant, in the province of Salta, represents a $790 million investment and has the capacity to produce 20,000 metric tons of lithium chloride per year from extraction at the Llullaillaco salt flat.
Ganfeng also spent $190 million to build a solar park to support the plant’s energy needs.
Wang Xiaoshen, president of Ganfeng Lithium Group, said the company’s other Argentina lithium projects are advancing. Pozuelos-Pastos Grandes is scheduled to start construction this year, while the Incahuasi–Arizaro project is in the advanced exploration phase, he said in a statement.
Ganfeng is also a co-owner with Lithium Argentina of the Cauchari-Olaroz project, which is already in operation, and the Pastos Grandes project, in the feasibility stage.
President Javier Milei’s administration has welcomed mining projects as a way to pump foreign investment into the country, and has offered an incentives scheme praised by international copper and lithium miners.
Argentina, along with Chile and Bolivia, comprise Latin America’s so-called lithium triangle containing one of the world’s biggest reserves of the ultra-light metal.
A string of lithium projects is in development in Argentina by other companies as well, although some have been delayed due to low lithium prices caused by oversupply and a slowdown in sales of electric vehicles.
Speaking at the project’s inauguration, Mining Secretary Luis Lucero expressed hope that the Mariana plant can help strengthen local economies.
“The Mariana project not only represents an important source of foreign currency earnings, but also the creation of genuine, quality employment for hundreds of families,” he said.
(Reporting by Eliana Raszewski; Writing by Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by Sandra Maler)
