Nearly a year after the announcement of Chile's National Lithium Strategy, the government has announced details of its lithium production expansion plan. The overall goal is to increase Chile's current lithium production of 250,000 tons by 70% to reach double the current output within the next ten years by 2030. The plan lists the Salar de Atacama and Salar de Maricunga as strategic salt flats where the state must have a majority controlling position. Development and cooperation at these two salt flats will be led by the Chilean state copper company Codelco. Codelco has already formed a partnership with the Chilean chemical and mining company SQM to jointly develop the Salar de Atacama. Meanwhile, Codelco is also seeking a private partner for the Salar de Maricunga.
The plan also stipulates that the Salar de Pedernales owned by Codelco and the projects of Grande, Infieles, Aguilar and La Isla salt flats under the Chilean state mining company Enami's Alto Andinos project will be led by these two state-owned enterprises for development. Private sector participation is allowed through public-private partnerships with flexible equity structures where the private party can also take a majority stake.
These 7 salt flats account for 49% of the total area of salt flats explored in Chile so far, representing Chile's saltflats with the highest production potential. The government has also listed 38 salt flats (about 33% of the total area) as protected salt flats. The remaining 26 salt flats (about 18% of the total area) can be led by the private sector for development. A public tender will be held in April, requiring all interested companies to submit expressions of interest (RFI) within 60 days. Tender results will be announced in July, after which development will proceed through the signing of Special Lithium Operation Contracts (CEOL). Finance Minister Marcel will participate in determining the lithium production quotas for different salt flats, stating that this expansion plan will further increase government fiscal revenue.
Regarding the issue of salt flat ownership, Mining Minister Williams stated that although some salt flats are privately owned, Chilean laws do not grant lithium extraction rights. Investors do not need to obtain salt flat ownership to carry out lithium projects. Williams also mentioned that the bill to establish a National Lithium Company was supposed to be released by the end of last year but is still under ongoing evaluation. However, this will not affect existing public-private partnerships under the current policy framework.
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