A new agreement aims to enhance investment and collaboration within Argentina’s mining sector, positioning it as a potential pivotal contributor to the global energy transition for France. Argentina’s government has formalized an agreement with France aimed at enhancing collaboration between the two countries in the realm of critical minerals, notably lithium. Representatives from both governments formalized an agreement on Friday at the French Embassy in Buenos Aires.
Argentina possesses the third-largest lithium reserves globally, a resource deemed crucial for the energy transition. Both nations have reached an agreement to enhance collaboration, fostering connections in this strategic sector to advance financing and investment for both new and existing projects.
Data from the United States Geological Survey indicates that in 2023, Argentina ranked as the fourth-largest producer of the metal, following Australia, Chile, and China. Argentina, in conjunction with Bolivia and Chile, constitutes a segment of the “lithium triangle,” a region that analysts contend may harbor more than fifty percent of the global reserves of this metal. Lithium is essential for the energy transition, serving a crucial function in batteries utilized in electric vehicles and smartphones.
The recent “memorandum of understanding” was signed in Buenos Aires by Laurent Saint-Martin, the French Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade and French Nationals Abroad, alongside Argentina’s Mining Secretary Luis Lucero. The objective is to establish the mining sector as a strategic priority in Franco-Argentine relations, as stated by the French official. Lucero characterized the agreement as a “road map” and a “tool that opens a field of cooperation,” emphasizing the necessity of “a bilateral dialogue to establish concrete measures” moving forward. The agreement aims to elevate the bilateral minerals partnership to a political dimension, considering the significant challenges presented by strategic minerals in relation to energy solutions, as noted by Saint-Martin. 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 experienced a significant increase of 43 percent compared to the previous year, totaling US$7.6 billion across various sectors. France has ascended to become the fifth-largest foreign investor in the economy of the South American nation. Mining contributed substantially to that increase, with an investment of US$850 million in the establishment of the inaugural direct lithium extraction facility managed by the French mining company Eramet, which was inaugurated in 2024 in the north-western region of Salta Province.
“Argentina possesses exceptional mineral resources characterized by their quality, quantity, and diversity, and is poised to play a crucial role in the global energy transition,” stated Saint-Martin. Argentina has previously entered into comparable memoranda of understanding regarding critical minerals with the United States in August 2024 and with the United Arab Emirates in February.