India on 15 January announced the acquisition of five lithium blocks in Argentina.
Key points
- The Mines Ministry, through Khanij Bidesh India Limited (KABIL), signed an agreement with Argentina’s State-owned CAMYEN.
- The State-owned KABIL will start exploration and development of five lithium brine blocks, namely Cortadera-I, Cortadera-VII, Cortadera-VIII, Cateo-2022-01810132, and Cortadera-VI, covering an area of about 15,703 hectares.
- With this agreement, KABIL has obtained Exploration and Exclusivity Rights for five blocks.
- The agreement will allow KABIL to evaluate, prospect, and explore.
- This is the first-ever lithium exploration and mining project undertaken by a government company in India.
- India’s lithium requirements, amounting to around Rs. 24,000 crore, are met through imports, with the majority of supplies coming from China.
Lithium
- Lithium is often called ‘white gold’.
- It is used across various categories, including energy storage solutions, batteries for mobile phones, and in EVs.
- Argentina is part of the world’s “Lithium Triangle”, along with Chile and Bolivia, and the three together have more than half of the world’s total lithium resources.
- Argentina also has the distinction of having the second-largest lithium resources, third-largest lithium reserves and forth-largest production in the world.
