India signs Rs 200 crore lithium exploration, mining deal with Argentina

Khanij Bidesh India Ltd, a joint venture of state-owned miners, has signed a Rs 200 crore deal with the Argentinian government-run Catamarca Minera Y EnergÃtica Sociedad Del Estado for exploring and exploiting five lithium blocks in the South American country’s Catamarca province, Union Minister for Coal and Mines Pralhad Joshi announced in a post on X.

“The project will help India strengthen lithium supplies, while developing lithium mining and downstream sectors of both the countries,” Joshi said on Monday.

A Historic Day for ????????

Under the leadership of PM Shri @narendramodi ji, the country achieves a new milestone in securing #CriticalMinerals4India

India and Argentina sign agreement for exploration and mining of 5 lithium blocks in Argentina's Catamarca province.

The agreement… pic.twitter.com/LVqtbb5jkw— Pralhad Joshi (@JoshiPralhad) January 15, 2024

Lithium, a rare mineral found in hard rocks and dissolved in saline groundwater, is an essential component in rechargeable batteries used in electric vehicles and electronic gadgets like smartphones, and laptops.

The supply of lithium for these industries is of strategic importance as governments across the world plan to meet their decarbonisation goals by boosting sales of electric vehicles.

However, the process of lithium extraction is not sustainable, requiring billions of gallons of groundwater and potentially contaminating some of it for centuries. The lithium mining process also generates a huge amount of...

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