Mining Law: AMLO will request that shareholders and mining entrepreneurs engage in dialogue with their lawyers

On the morning of April 20, 2022, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), President of the Mexican Republic, said that he was very satisfied with the approval by the senators of the ruling that amends articles 1, 9 and 10 of the Mining Law, which establishes and constitutionally protects lithium, prohibiting it from being subject to concessions.

He commented on Wednesday at the daily morning conference from the National Palace. He also considered that “it was a triumph thinking about the public interest and the nation”.

The president said that within a week or 15 days his government will begin to report on the matter, but that for now he is requesting that shareholders and managers of companies and corporations begin to engage in a dialogue with their legal representatives. He called on the latter to total sincerity on the subject:

In the coming days, he said, he will present what the reforms to the articles consist of to make known how the amendment to the legal framework was resolved.

With 87 votes in favor, 20 against and zero abstentions, the senators of the republic who promote the government of López Obrador, approved this Tuesday, April 19 the Mining Law Reform, which promotes that the Mexican State will be the only one that will be able to use lithium.

This initiative promotes the exploration, exploitation and exploitation of this mineral and its economic value chains to be used exclusively by the Mexican State. It also proposes the creation of an autonomous public body to ensure that the State can take advantage of all the advantages that this metal may attract.

The promotion of this initiative resulted from the refusal that the Electricity Reform obtained on Sunday 17, this because, to be approved, the series of constitutional amendments needed a qualified majority of legislators, that is, at least two thirds of the deputies were needed, but of course not this vote was obtained, the reform promoted by the government of López Obrador was scrapped.

That is why the president presented the reform that was ratified last April 19 in the Senate of the Republic and entered into force on the morning of April 20 when it was published in the Official Gazette of the Federation (DOF).

The opinion determines amendments to articles 1, in the first paragraph of 9; in the first paragraph of the 10, in addition to adding an article 5 bis and a third paragraph in article 10 of the Act.

In the first instance, the reform declares lithium a public utility metal. It is for this reason that concessions, licenses, contracts, permits or authorizations for its exploitation shall not be granted if it is not of a national nature, according to Article 5 Bis.

At the same time, it was determined that lithium economic value chains shall be administered and controlled by the State through the public body referred to in article 10 and that the Mexican Geological Survey “will assist the decentralized public agency responsible for the exploration, exploitation, benefit and utilization of lithium in the location and recognition of geological areas where there are likely reserves of lithium”.

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