Hyperdrive
Battery Makers’ Great Hope for Cheap Lithium Faces Talent Crunch
- Shortage of Argentine engineers is holding back lithium growth
- SQM is sending skilled workers from Chile to its Argentine JV
This article is for subscribers only.
In the global rush to supply the electric-car revolution, lithium hot spot Argentina is grappling with a shortage of talent.
Battery makers are depending on the South American nation’s high-altitude salt flats as a key new supply of the metal, with vast deposits and an investor-friendly government luring prospectors and developers. Under President Mauricio Macri, Argentina has ambitions to become a lithium superpower, supplying as much as 45 percent of the market, up from about 16 percent now.