July 3, 2024. Centenario, Salta province. At an altitude of 4,000 metres, Eramet and its Chinese and Argentinian partners celebrated the gradual commissioning of its direct lithium extraction plant, with production scheduled to start in November 2024.
A delegation made up of members of Eramet’s executive committee, representatives of its partner Tsingshan, Argentinian authorities and local community representatives performed a symbolic gesture: the opening of the valves that will allow the lithium-bearing brine to be conveyed to the plant, before taking a tour of the plant.
The visit was an opportunity for many members of the delegation, including the Governor of the Salta province, federal officials and the French and Chinese ambassadors to Argentina, to see for the first time on an industrial scale the equipment that will enable direct extraction of lithium using the technology developed by Eramet, one of the most efficient in the world.
It was also a fitting moment to pay tribute to all the Group’s employees – the project’s first explorers, technicians, engineers, geologists, environmental and CSR specialists – who, in France and Argentina, put their talent and energy into building the plant. Christel Bories, Chair and CEO of Eramet, hailed this “extraordinary success, because our Centenario-Ratonès plant will very soon become a benchmark for the entire lithium industry.”
