By Lucila Sigal
BUENOS AIRES, March 21 (Reuters) – Argentina’s mining exports hit historic levels last year, the government said on Tuesday, powered by surging lithium income as the South American agricultural powerhouse targets profits from the metal key to meeting booming electric vehicle (EV) demand.
Even as Latin America’s third-largest economy suffers triple-digit inflation and the fallout of a devastating drought afflicting top farmland, lithium exports helped push up the country’s mining exports to $3.86 billion last year – the highest level in a decade, according to economy ministry data.
Argentina’s lithium riches, like those in neighboring Chile, are extracted from brine in sprawling salt flats that use the power of the sun to concentrate the ultra-light metal in evaporation pools.