24th Parliamentary Intelligence-Security Forum – Strategic Minerals

Hon. Maria Gabriela Burgos commented about the change that occurred in Jujuy; she expressed that previously only tobacco was cultivated, but around 2015, there was a change in the productive matrix but directed on a main axis that is the care of the environment. She explained that through public policies, they began to think about how to move forward to generate real and genuine sources of work while respecting care for the environment. She commented that Jujuy has the most important solar radiation in America, and using that as an advantage, Cauchari was created, the largest solar park in Latin America, with more than a million solar panels. Hon. Burgos also commented about lithium; she explained that most technological devices need lithium for their operation since lithium favors the transmission of energy. Hon. Burgos explained that her nation, along with Salta and Catamarca, are part of the lithium triangle, which has one of the largest lithium reserves in the world. Hon. Burgos explained that lithium is extracted from brine, and Jujuy has large spaces of saline, from which lithium is extracted. Hon. Burgos explained that thanks to the energy from the solar park and the extraction of lithium, Jujuy is carrying out the largest educational public policy of the last century, allowing the construction of 258 schools.