Over-valued lithium mine in Argentina sold for a song

Washington

HIGH in the Andes, in northwest Argentina, stories are told of fortunes being made in lithium, the wonder metal inside everything from iPhones to Teslas that has captivated global investors from Warren Buffett down.

This is not one of those stories.

It begins in the lithium-rich salt pans of Argentina's Salta Province and stretches all the way to South Korea and Hong Kong, leaving a trail of lawsuits and unhappy investors.

The drama reinforces a timeless lesson about sinking money into natural resources: Chasing the latest rush, whether in lithium, uranium or oil, is a high-risk game.

Just five years ago, investors were told that lithium mining company Lithea Inc soon might be worth US$1.4 billion. But last month, after various legal wrangles, a Hong Kong court ordered the assets of a businessman behind Lithea to be frozen as investigators chased him over unpaid debts. The man in question, Choi Sung-min, got in early on the lithium rush. In 2009, his British Virgin-regi…