The Latin American and Caribbean Energy Organization (OLACDE) launched the free virtual course “Critical Minerals and Their Role in the Energy Transition,” a training initiative designed to strengthen technical capacities in light of the growing prominence of these resources in global decarbonization, renewable energy, and electromobility.
The course is taught by Gastón Siroit, OLACDE Technical Advisor, together with international experts, and takes place on June 10, 12, 24, and 26, and July 1, 2025.
During the opening session, Gloria Alvarenga, OLACDE’s Director of Integration, Access and Energy Security, emphasized that “it is essential to ensure substantial growth in the production of critical minerals in order to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement,” underscoring the urgency of training technical talent capable of responding to the accelerating demand for resources such as lithium, copper, and nickel.
For his part, OLACDE’s Executive Secretary, Andrés Rebolledo, noted that “Latin America and the Caribbean account for 25% of global critical mineral production. We are part of the global solution to the energy transition.” He added that the region has the cleanest electricity mix in the world, with less than 4% of global energy emissions compared to 60–70% in other regions, and 34% growth in solar energy in 2024 alone. He also highlighted that countries such as Uruguay already exceed 50% wind power generation.
The opening module was led by Gastón Siroit, who stated that the course aims to “pool knowledge, build community, and strengthen capacities through shared experience,” promoting technical training with a strategic focus. He then introduced the first guest speaker, Martín Gozalvez, Director of the Geological Institute of Argentina’s Geological and Mining Survey (SEGEMAR), who gave a keynote lecture on the geological and economic role of critical minerals in the region’s new energy paradigm.
Among Gozalvez’s key contributions were the following data points:
- The natural concentration of nickel in the Earth’s crust is 44 ppm, but it can exceed 5,000 ppm in a deposit.
- In the case of silver, geological enrichment can be 2,000 times higher than the natural average.
- A deposit is only economically viable if it meets conditions of concentration, technical feasibility, and market value.
- More than 90% of exploration efforts are unsuccessful, with the mining risk stage being the most uncertain and costly part of the process.
- Deposits are not random: their formation follows specific tectonic, geochemical, and geological processes.
“Understanding how deposits are formed is key to gauging the strategic value of our natural resources,” Gozalvez concluded, reaffirming the importance of geological knowledge as the foundation for a fair and sovereign energy transition.
