Argentina, S.Korea announce critical minerals partnership

Argentina and South Korea are set to deepen their cooperation in the critical minerals industry, the Argentine foreign ministry announced Friday.

The deal comes one day after Seoul entered a similar partnership with Chile, during a visit to South America by President Lee Jae Myung.

The agreement with Argentina "seeks to promote investments and joint projects in the exploration, extraction, processing and refinement" of critical minerals, Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno wrote on X.

The South American nation is the world's fifth-largest producer of lithium, considered an essential mineral in the global energy transition.

Lee met with his Argentine counterpart Javier Milei in Buenos Aires in what Quirno said was the first visit by a South Korean leader to the country in 22 years.

The meeting focused on "strengthening the bilateral relationship, expanding trade and investment, cooperation in critical minerals and energy and the development of joint projects in strategic sectors," the Argentine presidency stated.

Milei's administration on Friday also gave South Korean company Posco the green light to ramp up lithium extraction in Salta, located in northwest Argentina.

"With a $547 million investment, the project will make it possible to produce 23,000 tons of lithium carbonate per year and will generate exports of more than $300 million annually," the economy ministry stated.

One day previously, Lee met with Chilean President Jose Antonio Kast in Santiago, where the two announced a similar critical minerals partnership.

Chile is the world's leading copper producer and second-largest lithium producer.