Fernanda Ávila, National Deputy for Catamarca, former provincial Minister of Mining and former Secretary of Mining of Argentina, identified the development of qualified suppliers and infrastructure coordination between producing provinces and industry companies as key priorities for her role as Executive Secretary of the Lithium Board. She also recently participated in PDAC in Toronto, where she highlighted renewed interest from international investors in Argentina following the implementation of the RIGI framework.
By Panorama Minero
The Lithium Board brings together Catamarca, Jujuy and Salta to coordinate common policies and strategies for the sector. Its presidency rotates annually among the provinces, currently held by Jujuy, while Ávila is responsible for executive coordination. National stakeholders also participate in the platform, including the Ministry of Productive Development, the Secretariat of Mining, the Ministry of the Interior, CONICET, as well as companies and suppliers from the sector.
Supplier development: assessment and joint work
Asked about management priorities, Ávila outlined her main focus areas. “Suppliers are a major challenge, as we need to be prepared for what lies ahead, not only in lithium but also in copper,” she said. The deputy confirmed that coordinated work will take place between the Lithium Board and the Copper Board, where Catamarca also participates, noting that “there are many shared interests and supplier development is a cross-cutting issue.”
Regarding the strategy to develop local suppliers and workforce, Ávila emphasized the need to begin with “a solid assessment of current capabilities, future requirements over the coming years, and the gap between existing capacities and future needs.” She added: “The first step is to understand where we stand and where we should be heading.”
The Executive Secretary stressed the importance of coordination: “We must avoid isolated efforts, as they result in unnecessary and ineffective use of resources. Working together with the national government and each province to establish a clear public policy roadmap is essential.” The process will involve mining companies, suppliers and specialists to define training gaps and regional requirements.
Infrastructure: joint solutions among nearby operations
Infrastructure represents the second key pillar. Ávila noted that “many companies operate in close proximity, so coordinated work to identify joint solutions will be essential.” She added that given infrastructure limitations at the national level, “it is necessary to create dialogue platforms where the national government acts as a coordinator.”
Ávila highlighted that the Federal Investment Council (CFI) has already been working on mapping infrastructure needs, a process that will continue. She also stressed the importance of identifying synergies so that “infrastructure developed for mining can also serve hydrocarbons, tourism or agriculture.”
Other areas of work for the Board include taxation, aiming to align criteria across provinces to provide clarity to investors, as well as coordination with multilateral organizations such as the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the World Bank, the IGF (Intergovernmental Forum on Mining) and EITI (Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative) to access technical and financial support.
PDAC: strong interest and the RIGI effect
Ávila also recently attended PDAC in Toronto, the world’s leading mining convention, where she pointed to strong interest from foreign investors in Argentina and Catamarca. “Argentina Day was a key platform to present internationally the progress being made in the country, with growing interest each year,” she stated. In this context, she noted that Argentina received inquiries from investors from Canada, India, the United States, Germany, France and European Union executives.
She attributed this interest to the implementation of the Incentive Regime for Large Investments (RIGI): “This initiative restored a level of certainty that had been diluted. It has helped sustain investment despite fluctuations in lithium prices, for example. In Catamarca, new projects have moved forward regardless of market volatility or price variations in certain metals.” In this regard, Ávila noted that she has attended PDAC for six years and emphasized that “since the implementation of RIGI, there has been a clear shift in the level of interest.”
Regarding the impact of the regime, she stated that it “significantly improves investment attractiveness” and provides “a critical framework of predictability,” placing Argentina “on a level playing field with other resource-rich countries”: “I see a promising outlook as a result of these changes, and particularly in Catamarca strong prospects in copper, lithium and gold, with projects expected to advance and be developed.”
