Ministry of Industry and Korea Mine Reclamation Corporation Dispatch Investigation Team to Chile and Argentina from 18th to 21st
"Cooperation to Support Our Companies' Participation in Promising Overseas Projects"
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy will dispatch a joint public-private critical minerals business investigation team to strengthen cooperation on critical minerals with South America.
On the 17th, the Ministry announced that it will send the investigation team to Chile and Argentina from the 18th to the 21st of this month, together with the Korea Mine Reclamation Corporation. The team consists of members from the Mine Reclamation Corporation, LS MnM, Samsung C&T, POSCO E&C, and POSCO Holdings.
Chile and Argentina are the world's largest holders of lithium, a key mineral for batteries. A ministry official stated, "Amid the spread of resource nationalism, such as Mexico's recent lithium nationalization and the formation plans of a lithium consortium by Latin American countries, and with the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the European Union's Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), it is necessary to reduce dependence on specific countries for critical minerals." He added, "The dispatch of this investigation team is aimed at strengthening bilateral cooperation with resource-rich South American countries and revitalizing overseas resource development led by private companies."
The team will first visit Chile to meet with the Chilean Minister of Mining, the Chilean Copper Commission (Cochilco), and the Chilean National Mining Company (ENAMI). They plan to introduce Korea's advanced mineral processing technology and seek cooperation to enable more Korean companies to participate in Chile's critical mineral projects. To support the discovery of business opportunities between domestic demand companies and local mining companies, a Korea-Chile Critical Minerals Business Seminar will be held jointly with ENAMI. The Chilean government's lithium development strategy will be shared, and promising projects involving lithium, copper, and others will be introduced to Korean companies.
In Argentina, the team will meet with officials from the Salta Province government, where Korean companies are promoting lithium plant construction, and the state-owned energy and mining company REMSA to seek active cooperation from the provincial government to ensure smooth progress of the project. They also plan to discuss the discovery of promising lithium projects.
An official from the Ministry said, "To stabilize the national critical minerals supply chain, according to the 'Critical Minerals Securing Strategy' announced at the end of February, we will continue to promote bilateral and multilateral cooperation with resource-rich countries so that our companies can participate in promising overseas projects and secure critical minerals stably."
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