BUENOS AIRES, March 14 (Reuters) - An Argentine court in

the northwestern province of Catamarca has suspended the

issuance of new mining permits, demanding fresh environmental

impact studies be carried out looking at local lithium projects,

a judgment seen by Reuters showed.

The ruling involves the Los Patos River-Salar del Hombre

Muerto area, where global lithium giant Arcadium Lithium Plc ( ARLTF )

, formerly Livent, has a project. It comes after

tensions over water use with local communities in the region.

Argentina, inside South America's so-called "lithium

triangle", is one of the world's top producers of the metal that

is key for the batteries needed to power electric vehicles.

A local company spokesperson declined to comment.

The ruling, shared with Reuters on Thursday, comes after a

case presented in 2021 by a chief of the Atacameños Native

Community, which alleged the province authorized mining projects

in the Salar del Hombre Muerto basin without informing the

population or carrying out an environmental impact assessment.

The case said that local mining operations impacted

water supply due to the use of "huge quantities of fresh and

salt water", which they alleged had caused a local river to dry

up.

A source from Catamarca's mining ministry, told Reuters

that the province was evaluating the ruling to determine next

steps.

The court ordered the local government to "refrain from

granting new permits/authorizations" in relation to operations

in the Los Patos River - Salar del Hombre Muerto area "until the

new environmental impact study is complete".

Four sources in the industry Reuters spoke to said the

sector would have to work on the impact studies to define how

they would be able to develop the projects, although in

principle the decision would not impact current production.