en.Wedoany.com Reported - The government of Argentina's Mendoza Province submitted the Environmental Impact Declaration (Declaración de Impacto Ambiental, DIA) for the "Don Luis y Otro" lithium exploration project to the provincial legislature on April 14, seeking legislative approval to initiate the project's exploration phase. The project is located in the Salinas del Diamante area between the departments of San Rafael and Malargüe, covering an exploration area exceeding 234,000 hectares. It is being advanced by the Mendoza-based company El Jarillar S.A. in collaboration with the Australian company Ampere Lithium.
The project's Environmental Impact Declaration was issued by the Mining Environmental Authority in accordance with current regulations, having undergone a complete process including professional opinion assessment, consultation with sectoral agencies, and citizen participation. Technical agencies involved in the assessment included the Mining Directorate, the Environmental Management and Oversight Directorate, the Faculty of Applied Industrial Sciences at the National University of Cuyo (UNCuyo), the General Irrigation Directorate, the Provincial Highway Directorate, relevant municipal authorities, and the National Institute of Indigenous Affairs (INAI), among others. The process also included two public hearings held in San Rafael and Malargüe, where opinions from residents, production sectors, and social organizations were collected.
This project falls under the category of primary mineral exploration. The primary target resource in the exploration area is lithium, covering an area of 234,256.5 hectares. According to Eduardo Piñero, President of Ampere Lithium, if approved, exploration activities will first involve geophysical exploration, including soil and subsurface measurements, followed by a drilling phase. Plans include drilling five boreholes for deep exploration, with depths ranging from 90 to 600 meters. If exploration results are promising, the project plans to utilize direct lithium extraction technology for development. This technology does not use evaporation ponds but extracts lithium through filtration units, offering lower environmental impact compared to traditional evaporation methods.
El Jarillar S.A. is a local diversified mining company in Mendoza Province, part of the El Jarillar Mining Group. Since the 1920s, it has been developing and operating mines for magnesium, potash, lithium, and sodium chloride in Mendoza Province and has expanded its operations to La Pampa and Buenos Aires provinces. Ampere Lithium was incorporated in Australia in November 2023 and is a private company focused on lithium exploration.
Minister of Energy and Environment Jimena Latorre stated that the project complies with Law No. 7722 as well as national and provincial environmental regulations. Law No. 7722 is Mendoza's mining legislation enacted in 2007 and later amended in 2019. It imposes strict requirements for environmental impact assessment and legislative approval procedures for mining projects, mandating that a DIA must be approved by the provincial legislature before full authorization can be granted. Prior to submission to the legislature, the Mining Environmental Authority has established a series of environmental conditions that must be met. These include updating the environmental baseline, implementing monitoring plans for water, air, soil, flora, and fauna, submitting contingency plans, obtaining sectoral permits, and securing environmental insurance. Control mechanisms also require regular submission of technical reports, allow for unannounced inspections, and impose penalties for potential violations. The project's Environmental Impact Declaration has received approval from the Environmental Management and Oversight Directorate and the Mining Directorate. However, according to current regulations, full authorization still requires approval from the legislature.
This article is compiled by Wedoany. All AI citations must indicate the source as "Wedoany". If there is any infringement or other issues, please notify us promptly, and we will modify or delete it accordingly. Email: news@wedoany.com
