Minera Exar has initiated mining operations at Olaroz Cauchari, marking the launch of Argentina’s third lithium challenge.

This endeavor, following 13 years of funding, alerts a major financial milestone for Jujuy, a northern province adjoining to Bolivia.

The corporate plans to provide battery-grade lithium by late 2023 and subsequently begin exports. The challenge employs round 800 employees members and almost 1,700 contractors.

Franco Mignacco, President of Minera Exar and the Argentine Chamber of Mining Entrepreneurs (Caem), celebrated the challenge’s initiation, acknowledging it as a major occasion for the province and the nation.

Moreover, he highlighted the challenge’s distinctive location at 4,000 meters above sea stage, making it Argentina’s first such lithium challenge in eight years.

Mignacco expressed optimism for the challenge’s future, hoping to achieve a manufacturing stage of 40,000 tons inside 18 to 24 months, establishing Jujuy because the nation’s main producer.

Minera Exar invested a complete of US$980 million within the enterprise.

Mignacco, additionally serving as Caem’s president, voiced opposition to Argentina’s potential plans to nationalize lithium.

He advocated for insurance policies that favor international funding, citing the nation’s present state of lithium manufacturing.

Nevertheless, he expressed willingness to barter lithium wants with the Argentine authorities, rejecting notions of introducing quotas or preferential costs.

Lastly, Mignacco underscored Argentina’s standing because the fourth-largest lithium carbonate producer and advocated for its development as a significant world lithium producer.

He proposed that the nation ponder electromobility’s future, evaluating the roles of electrical motors and automobile elements inside this imaginative and prescient.