Argentina hints at incentives for lithium investment

Argentina hopes to catapult annual lithium carbonate production to more than 230,000t by the end of 2022 from a current 40,000 t/yr.

The fivefold increase would boost the value of Argentina's lithium exports to more than $1bn, from just $190mn last year, according to Argentina's mining secretary Alberto Hensel.

The ambitious estimate hinges on $1bn in investment over the next three years, Hensel said.

Fresh off another sovereign debt restructuring, Argentina's government has set up a roundtable tasked with drawing up a 30-year mining plan.

"Argentina needs to strengthen projects that lead to exports, and mining is part of that solution," said planning minister Matias Kulfas.

Hensel pledged that the government would analyze investment incentives, including a possible exemption for profit repatriation. "We must guarantee that companies have access to export revenue," he said.

He also suggested that Argentina could impose a system of "progressive" export taxes to charge lower rates at the beginning of a new development to ensure companies can make a return on their initial investment more quickly. Lithium currently pays an export tax of 8pc.

Argentina, which is among world's top four lithium producers alongside Australia, Chile and China.

Argentina had hoped the mining sector would grow exponentially this year, but bleak macroeconomic conditions and pandemic restrictions dashed expectations.

Mining exports including lithium, gold and silver will decline by 25pc this year and will likely end the year at around $2.4bn, Hensel said, while investments in the sector will fall from $240mn last year to around $160mn in 2020.

Argentina has the world's third-largest lithium reserves and is nestled in the "lithium triangle" that also includes Bolivia and Chile.

Two lithium developments are in production and two others are under construction. Another 10 are undergoing a preliminary economic assessment. If all the projects move forward it would imply total investment of $5.4bn.

US firm Livent operates the Fenix mine in northern Catamarca with a current capacity of 22,500 t/yr of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE). The mine is undergoing an expansion to 28,500 t/yr LCE in 2021. Australia's Orocobre runs a 17,500 t/yr joint venture with Japan's Toyota Tsusho and provincially owned Jujuy Energia y Mineria Sociedad del Estado (JEMSE) in northern Jujuy province, with a plan to boost capacity to 42,500 t/yr next year.

Minera Exar, a joint venture between Litium Americas and Ganfeng Lithium, is currently developing a separate Jujuy mine with projected capacity of 50,000 t/yr of LCE, while Australia's Rincon is targeting a 50,000 t/yr project in northern Salta province, according to Argentinian government data.

By Daniel Politi