Eramet is interested in developing more lithium production sites in South America, including in Chile and Bolivia, as it pursues a shift towards minerals for electric vehicle batteries, the French mining firm's strategy head said.

The company was also looking at potential for building more plants in Argentina, adding to the one it is already developing there with Chinese steel group Tsingshan, said the executive, Geoff Streeton.

The first lithium output for Eramet, which mainly supplies nickel and manganese for steelmaking, should come from that plant in early 2024. The facility will be fed by the large Centenario-Ratones deposit, to which Eramet owns rights.

Eramet also saw its brine extraction technology as an environmentally sustainable route for lithium production for Chile and Bolivia, said Streeton, Eramet's chief development officer.

"We're keen to work with the governments of Chile or Bolivia to identify opportunities to deploy our technology there," Streeton, who is in charge of strategy, told Reuters.

With Chile rethinking its regulatory framework under new President Gabriel Boric, who has called for a state mining firm to develop lithium, any projects could take time to emerge, Streeton said in an interview. 

But given long-term prospects for lithium and also nickel in electric vehicle batteries, Eramet would continue to look at new mining opportunities, he said.

Parts of Argentina, Bolivia and Chile form the so-called lithium triangle, salt flats that contain vast amounts of the light metal, which is coveted for vehicle batteries. Read full story

Prices of lithium and nickel, also increasingly used in automobile batteries, have soared in the past year, leading car manufacturers to talk of moving up the supply chain, even as far as the mine. 

Streeton, an Australian who joined Eramet in March, said there was growing interest from car makers in battery minerals but cautioned it would be a jump for them to get involved in metal production.

"The best way of addressing the concerns of the car industry or any other is to focus on developing projects to enable our supply to grow as the demand grows," he said.

For its initial lithium output in Argentina, Eramet expected to sign first sale contracts late next year and would maintain its approach of short-term sales rather than longer-term deals, Streeton added.

Eramet is also studying with German chemical group BASF potential for processing nickel and cobalt it mines in Indonesia into materials suitable for batteries.