Lithium a ‘key theme’ during Milei’s meeting with Musk

Argentine leader Javier Milei got to test out a Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) Cybertruck on Friday during his visit with the wealthy business magnate Elon Musk.

Milei toured the electric vehicle brand’s Giga Texas factory in Austin. He also chatted with the multi-billionaire about important global issues, lithium and other topics.

Milei’s spokesperson Manuel Adorni said that the two agreed on the need to foster free markets and defend the ideas of freedom. They both want to eliminate bureaucratic obstacles standing in the way of business, Adorni said.

Musk’s ongoing censorship controversy with Brazilian judge Alexandre de Moraes and artificial intelligence were other topics discussed.

“It was a match made in free-market heaven,” Isabel Debre from the Associated Press commented. Musk and Milei ended their talks by agreeing to hold an event in Argentina aimed at promoting ideas of freedom.

Argentina’s incoming American ambassador Gerardo Werthein says Musk wants to help Argentina, which is currently in the midst of serious economic turmoil. The country owes the International Monetary Fund about US$42 billion, sources say.

Argentina ended last year with the highest rate of annual inflation in Latin America at over 211 per cent. It has a disturbingly high poverty rate of about 60 per cent.

President of Argentina Javier Milei drove a Cybertruck during his visit with Elon Musk at Giga Texas today ????

pic.twitter.com/boi745Wjz2

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) April 12, 2024

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Argentina lithium a key discussion point

Investments in Argentina’s lithium reserves were a key topic. The commodity is essential for Tesla’s batteries.

“We talked about the investment opportunities in Argentina lithium,” Werthein said. “We’re very committed not only to exporting raw materials but also to adding value.”

Argentina holds nearly 100 million tons of lithium carbonate resources. It has attracted interest from countries around the globe that need an increasing amount of lithium chemicals and metal for batteries and other technologies.

Lithium metal is primarily produced by converting lithium chloride. However, certain companies like Li-Metal Corp. (CSE: LIM) have been making strides to produce it from lithium carbonate on a commercial scale.

Milei helped secure a US$104 million investment in Argentina lithium from the Israeli company XtraLit in February, and that’s just one example. Countries like India, France and Canada have allocated large sums of money to production of the nation’s lithium brine resources too.

The Hombre Muerto North project being developed by Canada’s Lithium South Development Corporation (TSX-V: LIS) (OTCQB: LISMF) (Frankfurt: OGPQ) in the country’s Salta province is valued at over C$1.25 billion. Argentina hosts much larger operations run by companies like Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) and Arcadium Lithium plc (NYSE: ALTM) as well.

Lithium South Development Corporation is a sponsor of Mugglehead news coverage 

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