Daniel Galli has a degree in chemical sciences with industrial orientation from the University of Buenos Aires and has the philosophical doctorate awarded by the Macquarie University, Sydney in Australia. He is a professional and mining businessman recognized and respected for his career and experience of more than 40 years working on projects for the extraction and treatment of industrial minerals contained in the Salares of the Argentine Puna and the Bolivian highlands. Galli currently also continues his academic performance as a professor of thermodynamics of the Faculty of Engineering of the National University of Jujuy. It will be one of the participants of the panel that will take place today within the cycle “Let’s talk about what is coming” organized by the newspaper The tribune in its sixth consecutive cycle. The talk will have focus on “mining in the times of strategic minerals” and will revolve around the possibilities and alternatives offered by mining activity for a change in the global energy matrix. In dialogue with The tribune, Galli left valuable concepts.
How do they define and what role do the so -called strategic minerals occupy?
They are defined as strategic because they are those used by the industry for its intrinsic properties and their reserves are very coveted by industrialized countries. But the important thing is that with their export, there is a strong currency income. They are economically strategic for a country, when they are critical for other countries. For example, in the European Union there are more than 35 critical elements and those of greatest demand are the lithium that Argentina has, the copper that Argentina has, cobalt and nickel that are not explored in our country and manganese, these are say the most important. For the manganese there is a project that is that of Chiron and then the elements of rare earths, which are not explored either.
The issue of economically strategic mineral goes a bit of the hand of those who are critical in other places. Regardless of that too, although it is not critical elsewhere, if a mineral is possible to produce it and export it in important quantities, it will obviously have strategic economic importance.
Are lithium alternatives?
No. They are not alternatives in general. There are some that accompany lithium, in growth, such as copper. If we talk about electromobility, the increase in lithium consumption is also accompanied in a very important increase in copper consumption due to the amount of copper that an electric car uses, compared to the amount used by a conventional car.
Why are lithium alternatives looking for alternatives then?
Science and technology will always investigate to find alternatives that improve our quality of life. That, science and technology always did it and will continue to do it. But from the electrochemical point of view, there is no other element that has the conditions that lithium has to be able to achieve energy accumulators that have a high load density, that have a large number of loading and unloading cycles and that also have a recharge time as low as possible. This on the subject of lithium continues to investigate more and more and the results and improvements that are in relation to that topic are more surprising.
Now that progress was made in the projection, construction and extraction of lithium, do you need to look at other strategic minerals?
Of course, we must continue with the exploration of other minerals. Argentina is still a virgin country from the mining point of view. Just as Dr. Catalano made the recommendation to explore the lithium in the liquid phase that rammed the salt flats of the Puna and an exploration program in the 70s that first promoted the Phoenix project and then with all this that came later. I think it is very important to have a very good exploration program with fundamental equipment, with laboratories that are very well equipped, with XRF equipment, all modern technology for mineral analysis. That is fundamental.
Lithium occupies a key place in the current mining development of the country and especially in the NOA region. How do you analyze the fluctuations in the international price of the material?
Well according to my vision that is due to many factors. But the main factor is the policies that governments have in relation to the application of technologies that point to clean energy. And this is something that depends on policies. There are governments that do not believe that there is an important ecological problem and then they undo the theme of application of clean energy technologies. But clean energy technologies are an unquestionable fact, that is, the world will advance in that direction. So it would not have to worry about the possibilities of production and marketing of our minerals, of the minerals that we have and that apply in that field.
Despite the current situation, an important increase is expected in the coming decades and there is talk that lithium can increase 40 times its production and that the copper increases eight times. They are data that are not very precise, but what is clear is that both copper and lithium and others, minerals in technology applied to clean energy will be growing.
How much have we advanced in energy transition in the country and in the world?
It is important to clarify that although there is an energy transition and an important change towards clean energy technologies, energy demand is always increasing and any good or service that one intends, requires the use of a certain amount of energy. And to produce it what is done is a succession of spontaneous processes. When a spontaneous process occurs, the energy that dissipates the environment during the evolution of the process produces the alteration of the environment. When this alteration is detrimental to human health or ecological balance, there it becomes environmental pollution. So, that is what leads to the importance of the transition to the use of clean energy, which to Argentina is favored from the point of view of the amount of fundamental elements that are used in such technologies.
In addition to lithium and copper, that other critical minerals could we have in the region?
There are others that are outlined as critical minerals such as the elements of the Platinum group, which include Ruthenium, Paladio, Osmio and Iridido, which in Argentina are not explored. So I insist on the importance of a broad exploration program with an investments and laws that make us a mining country and with great opportunities. I think Argentina is on the right track.
