Mexico: lithium reserved for state, or no concessions at all

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s president says no lithium mining permits will be issued for anyone if legislators don’t approve a bill declaring it a “strategic mineral” and reserving any future exploration and mining for the government. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador took an all-or-nothing stance on Thursday when asked about the bill’s uphill fight. López Obrador said he won’t back down in his fight to make the metal used in electric vehicle batteries “the property of the nation.” López Obrador sent the bill to Congress last week, but his party doesn’t have the votes to pass it. He accused any legislator voting against it of “treason.”