The province of Jujuy will soon have a production of 40,000 tons of lithium carbonate, a product coveted by automakers and the world’s leading electronics companies.

Getting to the Olaroz Salt Flat is not for everyone: you have to be prepared, take an acetazolamide pill and “chew coca” all the time to avoid puna sickness or the so-called apunamiento, a general discomfort of the body due to the lack of oxygen and dehydration that some people can suffer from at high altitude.

The destination is a lithium deposit, on the immense plateau of the Jujuy Puna, about 3,900 meters above the sea level. It is one of the minerals most coveted by the world’s major automotive and technology industries. The Lithium is used to manufacture the batteries that power the electric cars, as well as those that power the cell phones, just to give some examples.

The trip to the salt flat takes a little more than three hours by car from San Salvador de Jujuy, along Route 9 to Purmamarca and then the ascent to the Lipan slope starts. It is a very busy road for tourists as it leads to Salinas Grandes, one of the most beautiful landscapes of Jujuy.

Once you have gone through the Salinas Grandes, continue along Route 52, and you will cross a new chain of hills and in this way you will reach the Olaroz Salt Flat, a place of vital significance for the economy of Jujuy and Argentina as it houses the largest reserves of lithium in the country.

The plant located there produces about 14,000 tons of lithium carbonate per year, a project of the company Sales de Jujuy that involved an investment of USD 520 million and the subsequent expansion of another amount of USD 400 million. But once the new stage has been completed, in June, the plant will be able to produce lithium carbonate at a rate of 40,000 tons every twelve months or more.

Although this figure will not be reached during 2023, it is expected anyway that, this year the plant will produce more than 30,000 tons and generate USD 3 billion, according to what the plant personnel told us.

It is striking and incredible to learn that years ago, the lithium carbonate was not so profitable. It had a selling price barely above the cost of production and currently 

there is a very strong demand for lithium. Producing one ton costs USD 5,000 and it can be sold at USD 53,000 in the spot market.

Large automakers are already looking for partnerships with lithium miners to start moving on towards the production of electric vehicles with rechargeable batteries, since each battery uses approximately 7 % of lithium carbonate.

Royalties received by the province

Lithium mining companies, to comply with the Mining Investment Law, must pay royalties to the provinces for the production they declare at the “mine mouth”. 

The law aims at attracting foreign investments for the lithium exploitation. In exchange for this, a series of benefits are granted to the companies such as tax stability for 30 years, possibility of deducting the income tax, reduction of payments on the income for the entry of machinery into the country and early refund of VAT, among others.

The lithium issue has been more present in public discussions than in the contribution it actually makes to the economy of the country. Lithium exports account for only 0,4% of the country’s total exports.

However, regional relevance is different. The lithium has had a strong impact in the region of NOA, where the resources lie. Currently, there are more than 50 exploration projects underway, but only two are operating. It has generated an economic movement in a region that historically has had great difficulty in the creation of private employment. 

The exploitation and production process

Although the extraction process and its subsequent treatment to obtain carbonate is complex, it can be simplified in a few lines.

First of all, lithium brine is extracted in liquid form from the salt flat, through a process similar to that of the oil extraction.

Secondly, this brine is pumped into huge pools containing lime, where the liquid starts a long evaporation process due to the sun and wind effect. Nothing else happens in those large pools. The brine waits until it is concentrated enough to be able to continue the process.

Once the brine has been sufficiently reduced and has the necessary lithium concentration, in a 9-12-month process approximately, it is pumped to the industrial installations of Jujuy Salt Flat. 

There, the brine is treated with soda ash which is an element that is only produced in the United States and of which three parts to one of the liquid containing the lithium are required.

Finally, there are two possible ways to obtain different degrees of purity of the final product. The short way results in a product with 99 % of purity and the longer one in a salt with 99.5 % of purity .

Jujuy exploitation sells precisely this inorganic salt and lithium in its pure state.

To conclude, Argentina is the fourth largest lithium producer in the world (behind Australia, Chile and China), the third one in reserves (behind Chile and Australia ) and the second one in resources (behind Bolivia).

Source: Mining and Hydrocarbons Secretary of Jujuy. – Jujuy Mining Chamber

Marcelo Nasjleti