Mexico City, Mexico — President Andrés Manuel López Obrador says a Mexican company will be created to take charge of the country’s lithium. In his Wednesday morning press conference, AMLO explained that previous concessions to other companies were for minerals and not the lithium.
López Obrador denied that previous concessions were granted in the state of Sonora for the exploiration of lithium, saying that the concessions granted were for the exploitation of minerals such as gold, silver and copper.
“When these concessions were delivered, it was not (to exploit) lithium, it was for the exploitation of minerals, but lithium is something else. It is a strategic mineral and it belongs to the nation. It’s not like gold, it’s not like silver, it’s not like copper, it’s something else. It has more to do with a strategic resource for the nation like oil,” he said on Wednesday.
He says that with the electrical reform, the exploitation of lithium by foreign companies will be prohibited.
“We are going to create a Mexican company for the lithium. We do not want to be the territory of conflict between powers, not Russia, China or the United States,” he said adding that he will order an investigation into who, from previous governments, gave federal concessions to extract the minerals.
The concession for lithium is special, he explained, so it has already been decided that it will be exploited for the benefit of Mexicans.
