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warms to lithium","argentina-warms-to-lithium","article/argentina-warms-to-lithium",{"_uid":557,"date":558,"tags":559,"editor":563,"content":573,"excerpt":874,"featured":50,"reporter":875,"_editable":879,"component":880,"seo_title":553,"categories":881,"visibility":890,"author_company":49,"featured_image":891,"seo_description":874,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":896,"formattedArticleDate":897},"868fe320-a77d-4640-916e-f9ef1ba11bdc","2017-07-26 00:00",[560],{"slug":561,"name":562},"argentina","Argentina",[564],{"slug":565,"name":566,"content":567},"matthew-bird","Matthew Bird",{"job_title":568,"image":569,"bio":571,"linkedin":572},"Senior Editor - Supply Chains & Data Visualisation",{"filename":570},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/14738033ec/matthew-bird.jpeg","Matthew writes, edits and produces content for Benchmark Intelligence and Benchmark Source across the whole mine to grid supply chain. He also acts as a liaison to the press. He has a PhD in electrochemistry from the University of Nottingham.","https://www.linkedin.com/in/birdmatthew/",{"type":574,"content":575},"doc",[576,586,593,598,603,612,619,626,639,650,655,662,671,678,689,698,703,708,711,718,723,730,735,742,747,754,767,774,781,788,801,806,811,816,827,836,841,850,855,862,869],{"type":577,"attrs":578,"content":579},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[580],{"text":581,"type":582,"marks":583},"In a situation that could not be more polar opposite to Chile, Argentina has enjoyed a lithium exploration boom. Recent investments of $135m into its most advanced project, Cauchari-Olaroz, owned by Lithium Americas, has buoyed the space and grabbed the attention of the new President Mauricio Macri. Can the momentum last for Argentina’s new pro-business government?","text",[584],{"type":585},"italic",{"type":577,"attrs":587,"content":588},{"textAlign":49},[589,591],{"text":590,"type":582},"Argentina has been a focal point for a lithium land grab and is perhaps been the biggest",{"text":592,"type":582},"\nwinner to date from the battery-inspired lithium rush.",{"type":577,"attrs":594,"content":595},{"textAlign":49},[596],{"text":597,"type":582},"The election of pro-business President Mauricio Macri in 2015 restored confidence in the ability to invest in Argentina as lithium became a hot commodity and Chile worsened lithium investment conditions, a serendipitous confluence of factors that has benefitted the country.",{"type":577,"attrs":599,"content":600},{"textAlign":49},[601],{"text":602,"type":582},"Argentina is one corner of the lithium triangle of salt lakes or salars in Chile, Argentina and Bolivia but whilst they stem from the same geological provenance, investment conditions in each country could not be more different. Whilst Bolivia and Chile seek to obtain a majority of the economic benefits derived from lithium production, a pro-business government in Argentina removed a 5% tax on lithium exports and is elevating the country above its regional competitors.",{"type":577,"attrs":604,"content":605},{"textAlign":49},[606,608,610],{"text":607,"type":582},"Even Chile’s (and the world’s) largest lithium producer Sociedad Quimica y Minera (SQM),",{"text":609,"type":582},"\nis investing in Argentina via the Minera Exar joint venture with Lithium Americas because",{"text":611,"type":582},"\nit cannot expand production at home. The difference in investment conditions between Argentina and Chile is such that by 2025mining secretary Daniel",{"type":577,"attrs":613,"content":614},{"textAlign":49},[615,617],{"text":616,"type":582},"The difference in investment conditions between Argentina and Chile is such that by 2025mining secretary Daniel Meilan commented in March that if all lithium projects go ahead, Argentina’s annual output would jump to 165,000 metric tons, or about 45% of global supply. However, HSBC forecasts that Argentina will grow its participation in the",{"text":618,"type":582},"\nlithium market to 23% in 2025 from 17% in 2016 whilst Chile falls from 35% to 18%.",{"type":577,"attrs":620,"content":621},{"textAlign":49},[622,624],{"text":623,"type":582},"“I think Daniel was being a bit too ambitious as we are the only project of magnitude that",{"text":625,"type":582},"\nwill be producing in 2020,” Gabriel Rabacha, Lithium Americas president of South American operations told Benchmark Minerals.",{"type":577,"attrs":627,"content":628},{"textAlign":49},[629,631,633,635,637],{"text":630,"type":582},"Whilst Argentina has advanced rapidly and strongly, Marcelo Awad, executive director",{"text":632,"type":582},"\nof Chilean lithium explorer Wealth Minerals, suspects that many investors are waiting to",{"text":634,"type":582},"\nsee how lithium policy develops in Chile. “I think a lot of investors are still sceptical",{"text":636,"type":582},"\nabout Argentina and prefer to wait until the regulatory framework in Chile is clear to be",{"text":638,"type":582},"\nable to invest there because they know that Chile can produce at a lower cost,” he said.",{"type":577,"attrs":640,"content":641},{"textAlign":49},[642,644,646,648],{"text":643,"type":582},"Chile may have higher quality lithium resources and enjoy a lower point on the cost",{"text":645,"type":582},"\ncurve, but Argentina is a close second. For example, Minera Exar is targeting a production",{"text":647,"type":582},"\ncost of $2,495/t of LCE (lithium carbonate equivalent). The growing demand for lithium",{"text":649,"type":582},"\nmeans that it will be a major lithium producer.",{"type":577,"attrs":651,"content":652},{"textAlign":49},[653],{"text":654,"type":582},"Consolidation",{"type":577,"attrs":656,"content":657},{"textAlign":49},[658,660],{"text":659,"type":582},"With dozens of companies in the lithium space in Argentina, many sharing rights of",{"text":661,"type":582},"\nindividual salars, consolidation is coming to reduce risk and development costs.",{"type":577,"attrs":663,"content":664},{"textAlign":49},[665,667,669],{"text":666,"type":582},"“Consolidation will be driven by diversifying risk as it will cost $500-600 million to build",{"text":668,"type":582},"\na project and doing the studies costs $30-50 million, which is the entire market",{"text":670,"type":582},"\ncapitalization for many juniors,” said Marcelo Awad, executive director at Wealth Minerals. “It",{"type":577,"attrs":672,"content":673},{"textAlign":49},[674,676],{"text":675,"type":582},"“It takes a great deal of money and government approvals to build large-scale facilities and",{"text":677,"type":582},"\nonly a small handful of producers can meet those challenges,” Advantage president and CEO David Sidoo told Benchmark Minerals.Dozens of lithium juniors have acquired",{"type":577,"attrs":679,"content":680},{"textAlign":49},[681,683,685,687],{"text":682,"type":582},"Dozens of lithium juniors have acquired rights over parts of salars in Argentina and the",{"text":684,"type":582},"\nearly stages of consolidation can already be seen. Enirgi—a company ultimately owned by",{"text":686,"type":582},"\nthe Sentient Group through ADY Resources— took an 18.2% stake in LSC Lithium, which",{"text":688,"type":582},"\nis hoovering up lithium concessions in Argentina. LSC has a strategic agreement with",{"type":577,"attrs":690,"content":691},{"textAlign":49},[692,694,696],{"text":693,"type":582},"LSC has a strategic agreement with Enirgi under which it will be able to supply its",{"text":695,"type":582},"\nRincon plant with brines. Early movers such as Enirgi may leverage",{"text":697,"type":582},"\ntheir processing plant investments to become regional centres and process preconcentrated brines from third parties.",{"type":577,"attrs":699,"content":700},{"textAlign":49},[701],{"text":702,"type":582},"Enirgi clearly sees that as a possibility and thinks that it would be the government’s preference too. “Investors may prefer a model whereby brine is shipped to a central or regional processing plant rather than having the capex of building a processing plant on each salar. The government is likely to prefer one operator on a salar both to limit any environmental impacts and to make it easier to determine who is responsible for them. The Rincon plant",{"type":577,"attrs":704,"content":705},{"textAlign":49},[706],{"text":707,"type":582},"The Rincon plant will be scalable and if we scaled up to 75,000 tpy we could pull 25,000 tpy from another salar without impacting the Rincon Salar life of mine. We have a strategic relationship with LSC Lithium and we would seek to source additional brine from them,” Jessica Helm, VP communications told Benchmark Minerals.",{"type":577,"attrs":709,"content":710},{"textAlign":49},[],{"type":577,"attrs":712,"content":713},{"textAlign":49},[714],{"text":715,"type":582,"marks":716},"Lithium focus: President Macri and his government meet with Lithium Americas team in Buenos Aires",[717],{"type":585},{"type":577,"attrs":719,"content":720},{"textAlign":49},[721],{"text":722,"type":582},"LSC has accumulated over 295,000 hectares of brine properties in Argentina via strategic agreements, accumulating one of the largest brine packages in the world. It has struck strategic agreements with Orocobre and Advantage Lithium to increase its land package on the Salinas Grandes Salar hectares and purchase Advantage’s option on the Stella Marys project. LSC also intends to exercise its option to acquire LitheA from BMC Global, whose principal asset is its Salar de Pozuelos tenements in Salta.",{"type":577,"attrs":724,"content":725},{"textAlign":49},[726,728],{"text":727,"type":582},"In July 2016, Enirgi completed a feasibility study for a 50,000 tpa LCE plant at its Salar del",{"text":729,"type":582},"\nRincon project in Salta with a capex of $720 million. Enirgi has developed a proprietary direct lithium extraction process (DXP) in cooperation with the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation to extract lithium from brine. The concept was proven at a demonstration plant in Sydney in 2014 and Enirgi then shipped the plant to Argentina and began recommissioning it in December 2016. In April, it announced the",{"type":577,"attrs":731,"content":732},{"textAlign":49},[733],{"text":734,"type":582},"In April, it announced the successful commercialization of the frontend separation unit and it anticipates the full plant being commissioned during the first half of 2017. From there, it will produce 1 tpd of lithium carbonate that will be used for customer testing. Enirgi’s next hurdle will be raising the finance to build the commercial plant that it aims to bring into production in late 2019.",{"type":577,"attrs":736,"content":737},{"textAlign":49},[738,740],{"text":739,"type":582},"Enirgi says that direct extraction means lithium products can be made within 24",{"text":741,"type":582},"\nhours using natural gas and lime as reagents without solar evaporation ponds that take 365-500+ days to concentrate brine. With no evaporation ponds to build, DXP has a smaller environmental footprint and capex as well as lower operating costs, and yields a recovery rate of at least 74% compared to solar evaporation rates of 40-60%. The feasibility calculated a total cash operating cost of $2,070/t of LCE FOB Antofagasta, not including any byproduct credits putting the project at the front of the cost curve. “We are the only company that is putting forward a meaningful solution for lithium extraction without defacing the salares,” she said.",{"type":577,"attrs":743,"content":744},{"textAlign":49},[745],{"text":746,"type":582},"Producers",{"type":577,"attrs":748,"content":749},{"textAlign":49},[750,752],{"text":751,"type":582},"Lithium production in Argentina is currently in the hands of two producers: FMC and",{"text":753,"type":582},"\nOrocobre. US specialty chemical company FMC produces lithium at its Fenix operation at the Salar del Hombre Muerto in Salta where it produces about 23,000 tpa of LiCO3 that  it sells captively to its operations around the globe. The company currently has no expansion plans.",{"type":577,"attrs":755,"content":756},{"textAlign":49},[757,759,761,763,765],{"text":758,"type":582},"The newest lithium producer anywhere in the world in the last twenty years is Orocobre, which made its first commercial shipment from its 17,500 tpa Olaroz operation in April 2015. Orocobre owns 66.5% of Olaroz through a JV with Toyota Tsusho (25%) and forecasts",{"text":760,"type":582},"\n2017 production of 15,000 tonnes, up from 6,900 tonnes in 2016. The Olaroz startup has not gone smoothly and took the company about three years (Nov 2012–Nov 2015) to",{"text":762,"type":582},"\ncomplete, which underscores the technical challenges for new operators entering the",{"text":764,"type":582},"\nspace. But now that it has worked through its commissioning issues it is looking at",{"text":766,"type":582},"\nexpansion to 35,000 tpa LCE from 2019 as it seeks to leverage the Olaroz 6.4Mt LCE resource.",{"type":577,"attrs":768,"content":769},{"textAlign":49},[770,772],{"text":771,"type":582},"Argentina’s next producer is likely to be Minera Exar at Cauchari-Olaroz in Jujuy that",{"text":773,"type":582},"\nwill initially produce 25,000 tonnes per annum of LCE from 2019 following a US$425 million investment using commercially-proven solar evaporation brine processing technology based the design of strategic partner Sociedad Quimica y Minera (SQM). An expansion to 50,000 tpa LCE will commence as soon as the first stage is completed. “The project is advancing very well. We hope to make the decision to start construction within the next two months. We estimate that it will be very",{"type":577,"attrs":775,"content":776},{"textAlign":49},[777,779],{"text":778,"type":582},"We estimate that it will be very competitive and has sufficient reserves, for",{"text":780,"type":582},"\nat least the two planned stages,” CEO Patricio de Solminihac told Benchmark Minerals.",{"type":577,"attrs":782,"content":783},{"textAlign":49},[784,786],{"text":785,"type":582},"“Everything is ready. We have presented the feasibility to the board and with the entrance",{"text":787,"type":582},"\nof funds from Ganfeng and Bangchak, and with board and SQM approval, we are going to start building,” said Rabacha. Construction is expected to start in the first half of 2017 with a $425 million investment. Lithium Americas announced C$106.5 million",{"type":577,"attrs":789,"content":790},{"textAlign":49},[791,793,795,797,799],{"text":792,"type":582},"Lithium Americas announced C$106.5 million (US$78.8 million) in aggregate financings in",{"text":794,"type":582},"\nJanuary and aggregate debt arrangements for US$195 million with China’s Ganfeng and",{"text":796,"type":582},"\nThailand’s BCP Innovation to finance its 50% share of the first stage of the development. SQM is financing the other 50%. Cauchari- Olaroz will have a mine life of more than 40 years and production costs near the front end of the cost curve at US$2,495 per tonne. “As",{"text":798,"type":582},"\nalways, the challenge is to deliver the project on time and on budget, and we have SQM as",{"text":800,"type":582},"\na strategic partner that has vast and proven lithium producing experience,” said Rabacha.",{"type":577,"attrs":802,"content":803},{"textAlign":49},[804],{"text":805,"type":582},"The Minera Exar investment spurred Advantage Lithium to acquire a 50% interest in concessions adjacent to Cauchari from Orocobre and to start drilling to expand its inferred resource of 470,000t of lithium carbonate. The company plans to issue a resource update and scoping study by early 2018, and a feasibility study in 2019.",{"type":577,"attrs":807,"content":808},{"textAlign":49},[809],{"text":810,"type":582},"Depending upon the ultimate size of the Cauchari resource and finance available, Advantage could ship brine directly to end users to process, use Orocobre’s Olaroz facility or build its own processing plant. “We are leveraging [Orocobre’s] expertise in the processing of lithium at Olaroz and their community and government relationships.",{"type":577,"attrs":812,"content":813},{"textAlign":49},[814],{"text":815,"type":582},"This has been exhibited by the 17 permits we have to drill in Cauchari this year alone, the first permits granted in over two years. We have an option to process our brine via Orocobre’s facility at Olaroz by piping it directly to them. Or we can build our own large-scale facility if the resource is large enough,” said Sidoo.",{"type":577,"attrs":817,"content":818},{"textAlign":49},[819,821,823,825],{"text":820,"type":582},"French metals company Eramet is one of several innovators in the lithium space, leveraging its research division to create a proprietary direct brine extraction process in",{"text":822,"type":582},"\npartnership with the French Petroleum and Renewable Energy Institute. The process has",{"text":824,"type":582},"\nbeen optimized after two years of laboratory scale studies and continuous testing, and",{"text":826,"type":582},"\nwas piloted at a pre-industrial scale in 2016 to finalize engineering studies and qualify the product with future clients. Eramet",{"type":577,"attrs":828,"content":829},{"textAlign":49},[830,832,834],{"text":831,"type":582},"Eramet aims to produce 20,000 tpa from its Centenario- Ratones deposit in Salta with the goal of starting production before the end of the decade. Australian producer Galaxy Resources also has production ideas and completed a feasibility study to develop a 25,000 tpa evaporation operation at its Sal de Vida deposit that it acquired in July 2012 through",{"text":833,"type":582},"\na merger with Lithium One. Salar de Vida is adjacent to FMC’s Fenix lithium operation in",{"text":835,"type":582},"\nthe Salar del Hombre Muerto. Galaxy engaged",{"type":577,"attrs":837,"content":838},{"textAlign":49},[839],{"text":840,"type":582},"Galaxy engaged Argentina engineering and construction firm Techint to review the feasibility study economics in 2016 whilst the company plans a 1,200 tpa demonstration plant to engineer a semi-industrial scale chemical plant to test the industrial process and technical assumptions, ahead of the main commercial plant build.",{"type":577,"attrs":842,"content":843},{"textAlign":49},[844,846,848],{"text":845,"type":582},"Lithium X is developing a ponding facility that aims to produce 2,500tpa LCE that it",{"text":847,"type":582},"\nplans to sell as brine with option to move to 5,000tpa LCE once the project is cash flow",{"text":849,"type":582},"\npositive for a full year. The company would not elaborate upon whether it intends to sell its brine to existing producers in Argentina or export it. Lithium X is planning to undertake a FS to potentially increase this to 20,000 tpy, VP investor relations Tim McKenna told Benchmark Minerals, but it has not put a time frame on this. POSCO announced in February 2016 that it held a groundbreaking ceremony for a lithium pilot plant at Pozuelos salt lake that will produce 2,500t of lithium (probably +99% lithium carbonate) to test its proprietary lithium extraction technology ahead of making a final investment decision on a larger operation.",{"type":577,"attrs":851,"content":852},{"textAlign":49},[853],{"text":854,"type":582},"Whilst the competition to be the next lithium producer in Argentina is hotting up, the number of exploration companies working to get into that bracket is no less intensive.",{"type":577,"attrs":856,"content":857},{"textAlign":49},[858,860],{"text":859,"type":582},"Neo Lithium aims to produce a PEA before year end for its 3Q project in Catamarca, that hosts one of only two lithium reservoirs in the world that the company says has the lowest combined impurities of any salar anywhere and the third-highest grade due to hot springs",{"text":861,"type":582},"\nthat charge lithium and calcium, which cleans out impurities like magnesium and sulphate.",{"type":577,"attrs":863,"content":864},{"textAlign":49},[865,867],{"text":866,"type":582},"In May, the company published a maiden NI 43-101 compliant measured and indicated",{"text":868,"type":582},"\nresource of 714,242t LCE with an inferred resource of 1.3Mt LCE.",{"type":577,"attrs":870,"content":871},{"textAlign":49},[872],{"text":873,"type":582},"In Salta, International Lithium filed a maiden resource estimate with strategic partner Ganfeng Lithium for the Mariana brine project, with an indicated resource of 1.2Mt LCE and an inferred resource of 618,000t LCE. The company is undertaking evaporation field tests and pond construction, with feasibility study to begin during 2017 whilst seeking permits for a pilot plant.","In a situation that could not be more polar opposite to Chile, Argentina has enjoyed a lithium exploration boom. Recent investments of $135m into its most advanced project, Cauchari-Olaroz, owned by Lithium Americas, has buoyed the space and grabbed the attention of the new President Mauricio Macri. Can the momentum last for Argentina’s new pro-business […]",[876],{"slug":565,"name":566,"content":877},{"job_title":568,"image":878,"bio":571,"linkedin":572},{"filename":570},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"868fe320-a77d-4640-916e-f9ef1ba11bdc\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[882,885,888],{"slug":883,"name":884},"batteries","Batteries",{"slug":886,"name":887},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals",{"slug":889,"name":8},"lithium","private",{"id":49,"alt":892,"name":892,"focus":892,"title":892,"source":892,"filename":893,"copyright":892,"fieldtype":894,"meta_data":895,"is_external_url":51},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/c04dd5c9a8/bm-argentina.png","asset",{"alt":892,"title":892,"source":892,"copyright":892},"Jul 26, 2017","26th July 2017",[],[],1792688599116]