Photo: NS Energy

PULSE NEWS MEXICO

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) on Friday, Aug. 5, said that the country’s lithium reserves will be designated for use by the nation’s auto industry.

Speaking during his daily press conference at the National Palace, AMLO said the newly established state-run lithium company, the Mexican Lithium Agency (AMLito, and yes, that is really the name). which will be in charge of the exploration and exploitation of country’s apparently massive but untapped reserves, will be in charge of distributing lithium to automotive plants throughout the county.

“We have this output and we are going to make it available to the industry that is manufacturing auto parts in Mexico,” he said.

“The lithium will help to strengthen our national auto industry and the plants of the (foreign) automotive industry that are installed in Mexico.”

Although he said that the auto sector will be the priority destination for the national lithium output, the president did not rule out allowing its sale to other types of industries.

Notwithstanding, Mexico, which nationalized the mining of lithium under AMLO in April of this year, has yet to begin harvesting the mineral, which will require massive financial investment and technological knowhow that it currently lacks.

Even if AMLito were to begin operations to extract and process lithium, now, it is highly unlikely that the company would be able to produce processed lithium for at least four or five more years, long after AMLO is due to finish his six-year term in December 2024.