MEXICO CITY, June 27 (Reuters) - Mexican President

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Thursday that his government

will seek an agreement with Chinese lithium miner Ganfeng while

still defending Mexico's rights, after the firm filed an

arbitration case over a disputed concession.

Lopez Obrador did not flesh out a potential agreement that

could resolve the dispute, but instead stressed his government's

successful push in 2022 to nationalize Mexico's lithium

industry, which reserves the mineral's future production for the

state.

The president, who has long-favored resource extraction

activities controlled by the government instead of private

producers, suggested the dispute with Ganfeng traces back to

confusion over how concessions were granted by previous

governments.

"That's because we believe that the country had

previously given out, and we think gave out (mining concessions)

in a generic way, not specifically for lithium but instead for

mining and we don't think it applies," he said.

There is currently no commercial production in Mexico of the

ultra-light metal used to make rechargeable batteries,

especially for electric vehicles.

Lopez Obrador, whose term as president ends in September,

noted that public-private partnerships for lithium projects are

allowed.

Late last week, China's Ganfeng and two of its units

registered an arbitration case against the Mexican government

over a mining concession in northern Mexico with the World

Bank's dispute settlement center.

Shanghai-based Ganfeng is a top global battery maker and

lithium miner.