Lithium industry lifts China’s mining ties with the emerging market in Latin America

(JW Insights) Nov 6 -- Cooperation between China and Latin American countries and regions in mining is expected to deepen with lithium mining becoming a new focal point, reported China Daily on November 3, citing industry experts.

This will likely lead to closer collaboration and synergies between mining companies on both sides, they said.

Yan Guangsheng, director of the natural resources comprehensive survey and commanding center at the China Geological Survey, which operates under the aegis of the Ministry of Natural Resources, said China and Latin America's strengths in mining are complementary.

China has advanced technologies in mineral exploration and mining, and strong production capabilities, while Latin America boasts abundant reserves of resources like copper, iron, lithium and niobium, Yan remarked during the 25th China Mining Conference and Exhibition that concluded on Oct 28 in Tianjin.

Collaboration in mineral resource exploration, innovative utilization techniques and low-carbon clean technologies should be promoted, he said.

Experts said these agreements have led to a series of successful geoscientific research collaborations, laying a solid foundation for future mining cooperation between China and Latin American countries and regions.

Justina Botto, an official from Argentina's embassy in China, told the Tianjin conference the country looks to garner support of China and collaborations with Chinese partners as part of its efforts to diversify the industrial structure in natural resources and mining. Argentina, Botto said, also seeks to attract investments from Chinese companies.

Chinese investment in battery production lines in Argentina has strengthened extraction of local lithium resources and manufacture of batteries in Argentina, which helped enhance Chinese firms' position in the global industrial chain, Botto said, according to the China Daily report.

(Gao J/Yuan XY)