Mexico City, Mexico — After one vote was deemed a failure, another was hailed a success. On Tuesday, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) celebrated the Mining Law reform approval by the Chamber of Deputies.
On April 18, deputies approved the initiative sent by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador known as the Mining Law which seeks to protect the exploitation of lithium.
The approved reform will modify Articles 1, 5, 9 and 10 of the Mining Law. The core of the proposal consists of declaring the exploitation, exploration and use of lithium as “public utility, for which no concessions will be granted, licenses, contracts, permits, assignments or authorizations in the matter. Those in which there are lithium deposits will be considered mining reserve areas.”
The initiative to reform the Mining Law proposes creating a decentralized public body responsible for everything related to the exploration, exploitation and use of lithium.
This body will have legal personality and its own assets, and will be responsible for managing and controlling the economic value chains of lithium. The Mexican Geological Service will help that body “in the location and recognition of the geological areas in which there are probable reserves” of the mineral.
