Gabriel Boric: "Our challenge is for Chile to be the main lithium producer in the world"

First modification: 04/21/2023 – 18:25

“The State will participate in the entire productive cycle of the mineral. We will do the exploration, exploitation and addition of value based on the principle of virtuous public-private collaboration,” said Boric, in a national chain message.

The president also announced the sending to Congress of a bill to create the National Lithium Company.

Chile is —behind Australia— the world’s second largest producer of lithium, which exploits only from the Salar de Atacama, in the Antofagasta region, some 1,700 km north of Santiago. In addition, its reserves of this mineral are among the largest in the world, followed by the Asian giant, China, then Argentina and Brazil, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

Lithium is used to make batteries for energy storage, electric cars and buses, and its demand has grown strongly in recent years as the world seeks to move away from fossil fuels to curb global warming.

Lithium “is key in the fight against the climate crisis and an opportunity for economic growth that is unlikely to be repeated in the short term,” Boric said.

“Best Chance”

In 2022, lithium became the second product that contributed the most to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Chile, after copper derivatives, of which the country has been its main world producer for several decades.

Last year lithium carbonate exports grew more than six timesgoing from 1,233 million dollars in 2021 to 8,930 million dollars last year, according to data from the Central Bank of Chile.

“It is the best chance we have to move towards a sustainable and developed economy. We cannot afford to waste it,” added the Chilean president.

Boric assured that the State will be present in all the exploitations, but did not say how much the participation would amount.

“Our challenge is for our country to become the world’s leading lithium producer,” he said.

The lithium that Chile currently extracts from the Salar de Atacama is exploited under a system of concessions by the Chilean company SQM and the American company Albemarle, representing more than 30% of the global market. There are also more than 60 salt flats and saline lagoons in the country.

Latin America, rich in raw materials, has Chile, Argentina and Bolivia in a strategic location that forms the so-called lithium triangle, where close to 60% of the world’s reserves of this element are found and unlike Australian white gold —which is extracted of rocks in mines— the lithium in this triangle is in the salt flats.

Through the National Lithium Company, the Chilean State will also seek “partners” for the development of projects for the generation of products of high technological value. If it is formed, this company will be controlled by the state copper company Codelco, currently the world’s leading copper producer.

Boric compared his lithium exploitation plan with the decision of the government of Eduardo Frei Montalva (1964-1970) to nationalize 51% of copper mining, and of President Salvador Allende, with the unanimous agreement of Congress, in 1971, to nationalize the remaining property of the copper industry.

Environmental care and indigenous dialogue

Another of its principles is that the entire process will be carried out with the participation and involvement of the communities surrounding the mining operations.

“The first milestone in this process will begin with a direct conversation between the Council of Atacameños Peoples and myself,” promised the president, who will travel to the city of Antofagasta on Friday to deliver more details of the plan, which was one of the most important points. highlight of his government program.

with AFP