At the initiative of the Publish What You Pay Coalition, the Steering Committee of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (CP-ITIE-Mali) met. The meeting took place this Thursday, April 13, 2023, in the meeting room of the Ministry of Mines, Energy and Water. She focused on the “Challenges of the exploitation of energy transition ores in Mali (Lithium)”.
Maliweb.net – “Global lithium demand will increase by 40% between 2022 and 2023”, informed Souleymane Tiémoko Sangaré, Secretary General of the PWYP-Mali Coalition, who made an introductory presentation at the CP-ITIE-Mali session. With two lithium mining projects, for a production capacity estimated at more than 130 million tonnes, Mali ranks in the top 3 of African countries producing this strategic mineral.
Knowing that the gold of Mali has never shone for the Malians, what are the stakes of the exploitation of this mineral? According to Tièmoko Souleymane Sangaré, the issues are economic, energy and environmental. “It is for the government to learn the lessons of gold mining so that lithium plays its role in the development of our country”he said.
At the opening of the debates, Dialla Konaté, teacher-researcher at the National School of Engineers of Mali took the floor. He welcomed the initiative of the meeting. According to the teacher-researcher, it is now that we must act and not 50 years later. “Even if the signed contract is not to the advantage of Mali, it can be negotiated”, he explained. By giving the example of Guinea which started from 0 to 15% of share in the Simandou iron deposit.
Like Dialla Konaté, several members of the Steering Committee denounced the opacity of lithium contracts in Mali. “To make a better claim, you have to know what is planned,” informed a participant. Another to alert: “It is at the time of the monitoring of the exploitation that the government fishes. There is no strict control over the production of ore”. “For the exploitation of lithium, local suppliers must be preferred”, remarked another participant in the session.
At the end of the work, strong recommendations were formulated by the CP-ITIE-Mali. For example, the Committee asks the Department of Mines to publish, as soon as possible, the contract for the transfer of the two lithium mines, the environmental and social impact studies and the community development plans in Goulamina and Bougouni. .
Mamadou Togola / The Best of Mamadou Togola