President Bachelet: “Chilean lithium will not be a case of frustrated development, but an example of a well-built future.”
During a morning visit to the head office of Chile’s state-owned copper company Codelco, the President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, announced the first measures that will be implemented in the short term in the context of the new lithium and salt flat governance policy. She was accompanied by the Minister of Mining, Aurora Williams, and the Minister of Economy, Development, and Tourism, Luis Felipe Céspedes,
“We are called here by the firm conviction that we must work now to establish the foundations of a better economy for the future of Chile, so that it is more productive, diverse, and innovative,” the President remarked.
The set of measures, which are based on the proposals submitted by the National Lithium Commission, essentially point to the creation of a new regulatory framework, the definition of conditions for exploitation and forms of engaging with communities, the strengthening of coordination between the two main public stakeholders in the exploration and exploitation of the lithium resource –the Chilean Economic Development Agency (Corfo) and Codelco-, and the allocation of resources for innovation in this field, which is undergoing strong expansion.
The President noted that after receiving the National Lithium Commission’s report on January 25, 2015, “one of the first decisions that we made was to take up the commission’s call to reaffirm the strategic nature of lithium, which is the property of all Chileans, and to maintain its condition as a material that is not subject to concessions.”
According to the United States Geological Service, the world’s lithium reserves totaled 13 million tons in 2013, 7.5 million of which belong to Chile (57% of the reserves). This makes Chile the world’s second largest producer of the material.
Demand for this mineral is expected to increase from the current level of 95,000 tons per year to 250,000 tons per year by 2020. This is due to the fact that lithium is viewed as the energy of the future for nuclear fusion reactors, high-capacity batteries for electric vehicles, and light aluminum-lithium alloys.
Among the measures that will be implemented in the short term in the context of this new lithium and salt flat governance policy, the President announced that the Board of Codelco has established a schedule for bidding on the process of evaluating and exploring its lithium assets in the Maricunga and Pedernales salt flats in Atacama, in which the successful bidders would be in a preferential situation in terms of partnering with the corporation if the economic viability of those assets is confirmed.
President Bachelet concluded, “I am fully confident that Chilean lithium will not be a case of frustrated development, but an example of a well-built future. We will be able to apply what we learn here to many other opportunities in Chile.”