Ganfeng Lithium, Lithium Argentina Seek Third Partner for USD 3 Billion Pozuelos-Pastos Grandes Project

The Pozuelos-Pastos Grandes project, known as PPG, targets total annual production capacity of 150,000 tonnes of lithium across three development phases. The incoming investor would provide capital funding to cover a significant portion of the first stage, designed for 50,000 tonnes annual capacity, though not financing the entire phase. Ganfeng in March applied for the project’s inclusion under Argentina’s RIGI incentive regime for large investments, registering the full USD 3 billion commitment. The first phase already holds approved environmental impact declaration status.

RIGI, promoted by libertarian President Javier Milei, provides fiscal benefits, legal protections and long-term stability for investments exceeding USD 200 million. The regime has become a key tool for advancing Argentina’s mining pipeline as the country positions itself as a major lithium supplier. Argentina ranks as the world’s fourth-largest lithium exporter and forms part of the Lithium Triangle alongside Chile and Bolivia, the region holding the planet’s largest reserves of the battery metal critical to electric vehicle production.

Ganfeng and Lithium Argentina already operate the Cauchari-Olaroz project in neighboring Jujuy province through joint venture EXAR alongside local state entity JEMSE. That operation produced approximately 35,000 tonnes of battery-grade lithium carbonate in 2025 and received RIGI approval in May for a USD 1.241 billion expansion to lift capacity to 85,000 tonnes by 2030. Cauchari-Olaroz ranks among six operating lithium projects in Argentina.

Celorrio noted that current lithium prices, combined with Cauchari-Olaroz’s existing infrastructure reducing expansion costs, support relatively straightforward financing structures using the company’s revenues and assets for that project’s growth phase. Argentina’s total mining exports reached USD 6.073 billion in 2025, with projections from the Argentine Mining Chamber indicating 2026 exports could hit USD 9 billion as gold, silver, and world-class copper developments advance toward production targeted around 2030.