LatinNews Daily - 03 June 2024

*Chile’s state-owned copper mining company Codelco and the private Chilean company Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile SA (SQM), the world’s second largest lithium producer, have inked the partnership agreement announced back in December 2023 to develop lithium in the Atacama salt flats in the north of the country from 2025 to 2060. The agreement provides for a joint venture, comprising Codelco through its subsidiary Minera Tarar, and SQM through SQM Salar, with the Chilean state holding the majority share (50% plus one share). According to the agreement signed on 31 May, the partnership will have two periods of operation. The first runs from the date it becomes effective until 31 December 2030, during which SQM will oversee general management. The second runs from 1 January 2031 to 31 December 2060, during which Codelco will oversee general management. According to the statement, the aim is to “achieve a total additional production of 300,000 tonnes (t) of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) in 2025-2030, while a production of 280,000-300,000t of LCE annually has been defined for 2031-2060”. It adds that starting in 2031, the state will receive 85% of the operating margin of the new production through payments to Chile’s state development agency (Corfo), taxes, and the profits received by Codelco as a shareholder. According to the same source, the “partnership will become effective once all the legal, regulatory, technical and environmental requirements and the respective indigenous consultation process have been fulfilled, all of which is planned to be completed in the first months of 2025”.