TELF AG spotlights key updates in the international lithium sector
The progress of the global transition
The rapid progress of the global energy transition has pushed numerous states to focus very carefully on strategic minerals, whose role in pushing and accompanying this epochal transition, and some say, is now taken for granted. One of the most requested resources is certainly lithium: this material is used in some components of aerospace technologies, ceramics, medical treatments, and for the production of batteries that power the devices most commonly used by people, such as smartphones or laptops. In this historical phase, however, the importance of lithium is manifested with great clarity in the automotive and renewable energy sectors, whose products – electric vehicles and solar and wind technologies – will contribute to a large extent to the achievement of the objectives linked to decarbonization and climate neutrality.
It is no coincidence that the demand for lithium is continuously growing: in 2030, according to some estimates, the demand for lithium is even destined to quadruple, going from 720,000 tonnes in 2022 to 3.1 tonnes in 2030. The generalized fears that the availability of this raw material cannot meet demand in recent years have pushed many nations to look around to find new sources of this precious resource. One of these is India, which, according to what was reported by the financial newspaper Business Standard, is on the verge of acquiring five lithium blocks in Argentina and then participating personally in their exploration and development.
According to the paper, the agreement will be signed by an Argentine mining company, Catamarca Minera Y Energetica Sociedad Del Estado (CAMYEN), and Khanij Bidesh Limited (KABIL), an Indian joint venture specialized in the acquisition, development and commercialization of strategic minerals in foreign countries. For the Business Standard, this move has a strategic significance for India: New Delhi does not only intend to acquire a certain quantity of a precious and increasingly sought-after resource, such as lithium, but it is preparing the ground to become one of the main electric vehicle production centers by 2070. Considering that the world market will be inundated by electric vehicles in the coming decades – 125 million cars globally by 2030, according to the IEA -this could be a decisive move for India’s future positioning in this sector.
According to estimates by the financial newspaper, the Indian government could invest up to 200 million rupees by 2028 for the exploration and development of mines. It is not the first time that India has reached similar agreements with foreign nations: in 2022, New Delhi reached an agreement with the Australian Critical Minerals Facilitation Office to carry out some exploration of cobalt and lithium deposits.
Argentina has the second largest global reserves of lithium (after Bolivia), amounting to 21% of the entire global availability of this resource. Most of the reserves are concentrated in the so-called “Lithium Triangle,” which includes the provinces of Salta, Jujuy, and Catamarca. India has not only shown interest in the massive quantity of lithium present in Argentine soil but also in the nature of the extraction methods: extracting lithium from salt lakes is less expensive than extracting hard rocks. At present, India is heavily dependent on imports for its lithium needs.
