De Mar\u00eda Harp was also quoted as \u201crevealing\u201d that lithium in Sonora is, in reality, \u201cjust clay\u201d\u2013 a reference to the Sonora lithium being found in clay rather than brine, a characteristic that requires special and potentially costly<\/a> technology to extract.<\/p>\n As questions have circulated over the deposits, developments in exploration, let alone exploitation, have also appeared to slow for Bacanora Lithium, the now Chinese-owned, formerly UK-listed company that owns ten concessions in Sonora. Meanwhile, a debate around lithium nationalisation, driven by Mexico\u2019s president Andr\u00e9s Manuel L\u00f3pez Obrador, has raised concerns over the future role of private companies in the country\u2019s sector.<\/p>\n Amid these uncertainties, Di\u00e1logo Chino travelled to Sonora to see how the project was progressing and hear from local residents caught between the promise and perils of a potential mining boom.<\/p>\n On 26 July, we visited the mining exploration site, driving about three hours from the village of Bacad\u00e9huachi through peaks and valleys greened by a recent bout of rain. Cattle and cacti lined the dirt roads, and red cardinals and eagles circled in the sky.<\/p>\n The Bacad\u00e9huachi municipality has its seat in the small village of the same name, and is currently home to less than 1,000 people. Over the past two years, they have witnessed the media buzz around the reserves located near their town.<\/p>\n Approaching the mining site, the altitude increased, and the rock skirting the road began to turn chalky in colour. <\/div>In 2021, a report<\/a> by Sonora-based media outlet Proyecto Puente showed the beginnings of exploration activity, as have social media posts<\/a> and the most recent annual report<\/a> by Bacanora Lithium. On the day we visited, however, the mining camp site appeared empty and overgrown. To the southwest of the campsite, looking out onto land belonging to the La Ventana ranch on which Bacanora\u2019s concessions are sited, long scratches of cleared earth are what appears to remain of the digging that took place last year.<\/p>\n Like other Bacad\u00e9huachi residents, Javier Figueroa, president of the Bacad\u00e9huachi ejido<\/em> \u2013 a form of collectively-owned farmland unique to the Mexican system of land ownership \u2013 wants to know what\u2019s going on. <\/div>\u201cWe haven\u2019t been informed about what is happening with the lithium mine,\u201d he told Di\u00e1logo Chino, adding that Bacanora Lithium had approached the ejido<\/em> to request access to their land for their mining machinery to pass through. The ejido<\/em> makes decisions as a collective of landowners. Figueroa said negotiations broke down when Bacanora attempted to divide the ejidatarios<\/em> over the question.<\/p>\n The ejido<\/em> president also told us of a persistent concern amongst the town\u2019s population regarding the environmental costs of lithium mining, with awareness of reports that, in resource-rich Sonora, mining of other materials such as copper and gold has already caused contamination.<\/p>\n \u201cAs we have seen with other mines in other places, at the end of the day they contaminate the agriculture\u2026 we start to see environmental deterioration everywhere, it doesn\u2019t pay off,\u201d Figueroa said.<\/p>\n There\u2019s no work here. Many people have left to find work. Perhaps they will come back if there\u2019s a company to work for<\/p><\/blockquote>\n One of Mexico\u2019s worst mining accidents<\/a> occurred about 180 kilometres east of Bacad\u00e9huachi in 2014, when mining firm Grupo Mexico spilled nearly 40,000 cubic metres of copper sulphate acid solution into the Sonora River. The river was contaminated, causing illness in residents and killing animals who drank from it \u2013 a disaster that lives on<\/a> in recent memory.<\/p>\n Francisco \u201cPancho Paleta\u201d Villaescusa runs the general store in the main street of Bacad\u00e9huachi, looking out onto the palm-lined central plaza in front of the church. He told Di\u00e1logo Chino that the town has been hoping the lithium deposit would bring their economy back to life.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no work here,\u201d Villaescusa said. \u201cMany people have left to find work in another state or in the US. Perhaps they will come back if there\u2019s a company to work for.\u201d <\/div>The shop owner told us that since Telecomm-Tel\u00e9grafos, the government-run telecommunications service that also offers financial services, closed its local branch when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, he has personally taken over providing basic banking services for the town, such as utility bill payments and cash withdrawals.<\/p>\n Among the Bacad\u00e9huachi residents we spoke with, many shared similar sentiments over a lack of jobs, and a lack of water: the region is among those most affected<\/a> by severe drought in Mexico.<\/p>\n The Sonora Lithium Project comprises ten concessions and is operated<\/a> by Bacanora Lithium, a company that began purchasing the land in 2009 and commenced minor exploration activities in 2010<\/a>. The company, previously a Canadian-British venture, installed a pilot plant in Sonora\u2019s capital city Hermosillo in 2013<\/a>, while a feasibility study<\/a> conducted in 2018 found that profitable lithium mining could occur on the sites.<\/p>\n In 2019 Chinese mining giant Ganfeng Lithium acquired a 29.9% stake in the project as a cornerstone investor, as exploration activities continued. Then, at the end of 2021, it confirmed a takeover<\/a> of Bacanora, with Ganfeng vice president Wang Xiaoshen appointed as its chairman in January.<\/p>\n Dr Rafael Cabanillas, director-general of energy programmes for the Sonora government\u2019s economy ministry, emphasised that it is early days for the project, which has so far run through concessions. The government has however expressed great interest<\/a> in exerting more control over its lithium resources, culminating in the recent launch of a state-run lithium company, Litio para Mexico, abbreviated as LitioMX.<\/p>\n Cabanillas told Di\u00e1logo Chino that it is not yet clarified how Sonora\u2019s lithium will be extracted and, as such, whether it will require a high concentration of water. He said that both the Sonora and federal governments are prioritising bringing benefits to Bacad\u00e9huachi and the Mexican people through LitioMx and its partnerships.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, a report<\/a> published on 12 September by Mexican outlet N+ accused Bacanora of providing \u201cincomplete, contradictory and misleading information to investors and the Mexican government\u201d regarding the company\u2019s acquisition of the Sonora concessions. Their report says that one of the concessions Bacanora claims to have covers 87% of the land that originally comprised the project, but is not actually presently assigned to the company.<\/p>\n N+ says the company has used speculation to drive up profits while not extracting any lithium. In the report, Napole\u00f3n G\u00f3mez Urrutia, a senator from ruling party Morena and a mining union leader, also tells N+ that the federal government is reviewing all lithium mining concessions to see if there were any problems with their acquisition, and that the new mining law would address speculation.<\/p>\n Bacanora\u2019s 2021 annual report<\/a> stated that a Chinese design institute was being appointed by Ganfeng to complete the front end engineering design (FEED) that occurs following feasibility studies in mining projects, with, it said, \u201cinitial site layouts scheduled for Q2 2022\u201d.<\/p>\n The report also claimed that all other plant site location activities have been completed. \u201cWorks to build the construction road and early work camp have commenced\u201d and \u201csite works for bulk earthworks are expected to commence in late 2022\u201d.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, a project development timeline<\/a> on Bacanora\u2019s website states that long lead items, likely to include imported equipment and materials, are \u201cto be ordered for delivery to Sonora in late 2022 and early 2023\u201d, while the \u201cfirst lithium plant commissioning [is] planned for late Q4, 2023\u201d. It does, however, emphasise that these dates are subject to change.<\/p>\n Di\u00e1logo Chino made several approaches to Bacanora for comment, seeking updates on the current status of the site and plans going forward, but received no response. Requests for comment from Ganfeng were also unanswered.<\/p>\n It seems clear that the company intends to continue the mining operation in Sonora: they have hired<\/a> a community relations and sustainability officer, and also advertised<\/a> for a project manager. But there was little sign of progress at the site of the mine, with the camp appearing as nothing more than a large patch of grass and no people or machinery from the company in evidence. One Bacad\u00e9huachi resident did tell us that in recent weeks there appears to be movement on the project again, and reported that some residents had been receiving enquiries about houses available for rent, which they presumed to be from relatives of company staff.<\/p>\n Ever since the discovery of the deposits, Mexico\u2019s president Andr\u00e9s Manuel L\u00f3pez Obrador, known as AMLO, has made regular declarations relating to Mexico\u2019s ownership of its lithium, and decreed<\/a> the creation of the state-operated lithium mining company LitioMX on 23 August. A week later, it was announced that the company will be headquartered in Hermosillo with the Sonora state government.<\/p>\n \u201cLithium is a strategic mineral that must remain under the control of the nation,\u201d the president had said<\/a> in a 2021 press conference. \u201cLithium matters a lot to those who act as hegemonies. We cannot leave this strategic mineral to the market.\u201d<\/p>\n Ownership of the concessions has been in the spotlight, with Mexico recently passing a law to nationalise lithium as a strategic mineral for the country, a move which has been seen as potentially limiting foreign involvement in lithium mining. It has also brought the L\u00f3pez Obrador government conflict with its North American trading partners, who have claimed that this breaches<\/a> the US-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement.<\/p>\n The Sonora economy ministry\u2019s Cabanillas said that a relationship between Bacanora and LitioMx \u201chas not been established\u201d, but he expects that, going forward LitioMx will have relationships with \u201cuniversities and research centres as well as private companies\u201d.<\/p>\n The decree<\/a> says that LitioMx will \u201cmanage and control the activities necessary for the production, transformation and distribution of lithium-derived products, for which purpose it may associate with other public and private institutions.\u201d Meanwhile, AMLO himself said<\/a> in a recent news conference that private investment would be encouraged in cooperation with the state-run company. The president has also claimed<\/a> that Sonora\u2019s lithium will be linked to a new local economy in renewable energy.A struggling town hopes for change<\/h2>\n
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The miners<\/h2>\n
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<\/a>What is the plan for Sonora lithium?<\/h2>\n
Nationalising lithium in Mexico<\/h2>\n
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<\/a>
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