Key Argentine Mining Leader, Flavia Royon, Joins Zelandez Board

Zelandez is thrilled to announce that Flavia Royon, Argentina’s former Secretary of Energy and Mining, will join the company’s board as a director.

The appointment ensures that the world’s leading lithium brinefield technology provider will have a crucial Argentinian perspective on operations as the South American nation further strengthens its position as one of the world’s largest lithium suppliers.

“Argentina is set to play an essential strategic role in the world’s energy transition moving forward, and Zelandez will be a crucial partner in making that happen,” Royon says. “Having an Argentinian at the top table with Zelandez is a big win for both parties.”

A trained industrial engineer, Royon served as the Secretary of Mining and Energy for Salta province before serving as Argentina’s Secretary of Energy between 2022 and 2023. Royon was appointed Secretary of Mining by President Javier Milei in December 2023, a role she left this February. She will officially start as a Zelandez board member later this month.

Gene Morgan, Zelandez’s chief executive, says Royon’s extensive experience and understanding of the Argentine lithium mining sector will give the company an invaluable perspective.

“From Salta to the halls of power in Buenos Aires, Flavia knows what it takes to ensure lithium brine mining benefits all stakeholders,” Morgan says. “Along with her commitment to community engagement, her insight will be a huge asset for Zelandez.”

Royon described Zelandez’s reputation as a pragmatic, honest broker in the South American lithium brine industry as a key reason she agreed to join its board.

“Whether you work as a brinefield engineer or as a policymaker on the provincial or national level, Zelandez has built up the reputation as a professional, dependable partner on South America’s brinefields,” she says.

“As a board member, I am dedicated to strengthening that reputation and showing my fellow Argentinians why our nation can benefit from the lithium brine mining process.”

Forming part of South America's ‘lithium triangle’, Argentina is currently the world’s fourth largest lithium producer, providing around 34,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) annually. By 2027, it is estimated to grow significantly, surpassing Chile as the world’s second-largest producer.

Last month, Zelandez partnered with the Argentine province of Catamarca in an agreement to provide modular prefabricated plants for the nation’s top lithium-producing state. The central element of the partnership is the supply and utilization of ErLi, Zelandez’s prefabricated lithium production facilities.