Argentina’s government has made a lithium deal with France to work together more closely on important minerals, with an emphasis on developing it.
Lithium is an important part of the energy revolution, and Argentina has the third-largest deposits of it in the world. Both countries have now decided to work together more closely in this important area to encourage funding and investment in new and continuing initiatives.
The United States Geological Survey says that Argentina was the fourth greatest producer of the metal in 2023, behind Australia, Chile, and China.
Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile make up the “lithium triangle,” which scientists think might hold more than half of the world’s lithium deposits.
Lithium is very important for the shift to clean energy since it is used in batteries for smartphones and electric cars.
The new “memorandum of understanding” – signed in Buenos Aires by Laurent Saint-Martin, French Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade and French Nationals Abroad, and Argentina’s Mining Secretary Luis Lucero – aims to “make the mining sector a strategic priority” in Franco-Argentine relations, said the French official.
Lucero called the lithium deal a “road map” and a “tool that opens a field of cooperation.” Now, there has to be “a bilateral dialogue to establish concrete measures.”
The deal seeks to “raise the bilateral minerals partnership to a political level, taking into account the critical challenges posed by strategic minerals for energy solutions,” Saint-Martin added.
It also aims to “accelerate the rollout of investment projects by French companies in the coming months and years, and to strengthen the mobilisation of public cooperation instruments for project financing,” he concluded.
In 2024, French investments in Argentina went up by 43% from the previous year, reaching a total of US$7.6 billion across all industries. The South American nation currently has France as its fifth-largest foreign investor.
Mining was a big part of that rise. The French mining company Eramet invested US$850 million towards building the first direct lithium extraction facility, which opened in 2024 in northwestern Salta Province.
“Argentina has world-class mineral resources in terms of quality, quantity and diversity, and will play a fundamental role in the global energy transition,” said Saint-Martin.
Argentina has previously inked similar agreements with the US and the UAE for important minerals. The US agreement was signed in August 2024, while the UAE agreement was signed in February.