During 6th and 7th of June, the province of Catamarca was host of the Sixth Edition of the International Seminar “Lithium in South America”, organized by PANORAMA MINERO magazine. This seminar is a reference related to the lithium sector, not only in Argentina, but also in the other countries like Chile and Bolivia.
More than 500 people attended this well recognized and consolidated seminar, including mining companies –producers and explorers-, goods and services suppliers, members of diplomatic branches in Argentina, also as national, provincial and municipal authorities. Mining chambers, members of universities, R&D institutes were also present in a seminar that grows year after year.
Dr. Alejandro Colombo, Journalist Director of PANORAMA MINERO offered the welcome words, informing about the Argentine mining potential in terms of lithium, and its importance throughout the Argentine Northwest region. Subsequently, Dr. Daniel Galli, President of the Seminar, stressed the importance of this meeting as well as the themes to be developed.
For his part, Dr. Julio Ríos Gómez, President of SEGEMAR (Argentine Mining Geological Service), commented on the progress of the tasks from this organism to attend technically, as well as the signing of agreements with the People’s Republic of China.
From CAEM (Argentinian Chamber of Mines), Marcelo Alvarez, President of this institution, emphasized the contribution to sustainable mining. «We have lived up to what the President of the Nation proposed for the mining sector, to be one of the pillars of development.» In that sense, he pondered the importance of the TSM (Towards Sustainable Mining) for companies to apply the same standards as in their origin countries.
Rodolfo Micone, President of COFEMIN (Federal Mining Council) and Mining Secretary of Catamarca, said: «Today you can see the fruits of a lot of work. We always said that we wanted to value our resources and today we see it reflected in several projects that are in the province in the production and exploration stages. We want to go further and move forward in the chain value of these minerals.»
Daniel Meilán, National Mining Secretary, said that «Twenty years ago the so called “Great Mining” began in the province of Catamarca with Bajo la Alumbrera and with FMC Minera del Altiplano S.A. in the Salar del Hombre Muerto. Much remains to be done and to generate confidence for the investor. The only way is by doing responsible mining where we are all part and fulfill our functions. »
Finally, the Seminar was formally inaugurated with the words of the Governor of the province of Catamarca, Dra. Lucía Corpacci, who remarked: «We plan sustainable mining, with work for our people, with respect for the environment and transparency of actions that are made. We want communities to develop and local entrepreneurs also have the opportunity to develop and grow.»
Some of the topics included in the conferences:
- Mining Integration Treaty (Dr. Eduardo Traian)
- Panel of Ministry of Mining and Under secretariat of Mining Development, coordinated by Eng. Mario Capello Undersecretary of Development Miner – Lithium market opportunities (Daniel Jerez, National Director of Promotion Mining) and Different geological features of lithium (Emilio Toledo, Victor Delbono, Tay Such)
- Economy of lithium projects: Projections of prices and competition and the importance of lithium beyond production of batteries (Dr. Carlos Galli – LSC)
- Flexible Geomembrane: alternative of waterproofing in salars (Jaime Retamal, Membrantec Chile)
- Extraction method of sustainable lithium – Rapid and selective electrochemical method (Ernesto Calvo – INQUIMAE)
- Effective reduction of transportation road costs (Guillermo Hughes – Scania)
- Tres Quebradas Project (Eng. Hugo Barrientos – Neo Lithium Corp)
- Methods of producing lithium. Traditional And innovative (César Jil, Lithium Extraction Manager, Albemarle Corporation)
- Pastos Grandes Project (Iain Scarr, President of Pastos Grandes Project S.A. – Millennial Lithium)
- Building a world class project (Franco Mignacco, President of Minera Exar)
- G4‐Litio y potasio (Eduardo Hugo Peralta)
- Hydrogeological pumping simulation to assess the uncertainty on a salar type lithium deposit (Patick Goblet, hydro geologist, Mines Paris Tech, France) and Bailer uncertainty evaluation in lithium salar deposit (Sergé Seguret, Geostatistician, Mines Paris Tech, France)
- CSR commitment in the development in a lithium project (Christophe Thillier – Eramine)
- Projects of Morena del Valle Minerales SA (Lithium Market in Asia and Kachi Project Lithium, Catamarca) – (Steve Promnitz – Managing Director – Lake Resources NL)
- Latin Resources (Chris Gale, Managing director)
- Carlos Luppi (Volvo)
- Relationships with the community (Eng. Gabriel Paganini)
- Alex Stewart Conference (Marcelo Tejada and Cintia Abud Talevi)
- Lithium as the central element of the energy paradigm (Dr. Arnaldo Visintin, Director of CIDMEJu)
- Opportunity for Renewable Energies Panel in the Argentine NOA (Ariel Arrieta, Director of EE.RR. Catamarca / Dr. Mario Pizarro, Secretary of Energy of the Province of Jujuy / Dr. Victoria Flexer, CIT Jujuy / Dr. Judith Franco, INENCO, UNSA, Salta)
- Lithium in the Pampean Pegmatitic Province – Contributions of SEGEMAR in the investigation of Lithium resources in Argentina (Dr. Martín Gozalvez, SEGEMAR)
- Development of a Lithium Brine project: What are the needs? (SRK Conference – Pablo Cortegoso)
- The Argentine Lithium: Mining or Technology? – Emily Hersh, Managing Partner, DCDB Group
- Technology Transfer and Human Resources – From Oil Upstream to Upstream of Lithium (Eleonora Erdmann and Matías Podeley – Technological Institute of Buenos Aires)
