López Obrador announces that his government will create a state company to exploit lithium in Mexico

The president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, affirmed that his government will create a state company to exploit lithium, a vital mineral for electric car batteries and new technologies.

“It has already been decided that lithium is going to be exploited for the benefit of Mexicans, for Mexicans. We are going to create a company from Mexico, from the nation, for lithium”, Said the president in his usual morning press conference without giving more details about the new company.

“Lithium already, so that it is well understood, is not even from the government or the State, lithium belongs to the people and the Mexican nation”, he added.

The president had already announced in October that Mexico intended to monopolize the exploitation of the mineral when he presented a constitutional reform initiative on the subject that also included a larger participation of the State in the electricity market.

At that time, López Obrador pointed out that in the country there are eight concessions granted to exploit lithium that will remain in force as long as the companies certify that they are about to start production.

Lithium is mainly mined in South America and Australia, with China dominating the supply chain.

Mexico It has deposits of this mineral located mostly in the northern state of Sonora, where drug traffickers and other organized crime gangs operate.

Although Mexico has not set a date to ban new gasoline and diesel vehicles, assemblers of important car brands such as Ford, General Motors, Kia, Audi and BMW operate in the country.