Marval O’Farrell Mairal advised Tsingshan in its entry as shareholder in an Eramet lithium project in Argentina

On November 8, Eramet announced it will restart the construction of its lithium plant in Argentina through an agreement with the Chinese steel group Tsingshan. Marval O’Farrell Mairal advised Eternal Tsingshan Group Co., Ltd., through a team lead by our partner Leonardo G. Rodriguez and made up of our partner Macarena García Mirri and associates María Mercedes Rudolph, Agustina Dellacasa, Victoria Suárez Pino, and María Soledad Noodt Molins. Tsingshan's initial investment is estimated at USD 375 million.

The construction of the plant, with an annual production of 24,000 tons of lithium will start during the first quarter of 2022 with a commissioning scheduled for early 2024. Eramet will control the project, with a 50.1% interest, and will retain operational management responsibility; its partner Tsingshan will finance the plant construction in exchange for a 49.9% interest in the project. 

Eramet owns perpetual mining rights over a major lithium concession, in the form of brine, located on the Andean highlands in the province of Salta in Argentina. The project consists of extracting brine from the salt pan and processing it into lithium carbonate, which is the base compound for the energy storage industry.