Chile to Open New Lithium Exploration Tenders for Private Companies in 2024

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Written by Amir Richani for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The Chilean government said it will open new lithium tenders for exploration for private companies in the first semester of 2024.

Meanwhile, Codelco (Santiago, Chile) and Enami (Copiapo, Chile), both national Chilean mining companies, will start receiving exploration and production licenses starting this year.

Codelco and Enami could develop projects independently, while private companies would have to partner with state companies to develop lithium projects.

As part of the guidelines, the state has highlighted that private companies that find positive exploration results would have the priority to receive one of the special contracts for lithium operations (CEOL) to produce lithium in the newly explored area.

The CEOLs will be granted through a public, competitive, and transparent process, in which "the technical offers must include, among other things: reports and instruments to keep the State updated on the information collected, a proposal for a local value generation plan and productive chains, as well as the estimate of environmental impacts associated with each project," according to the government's report.

Earlier this year, the Chilean government introduced a new national lithium strategy, giving state companies control over the lithium industry. As a result, national mining companies will form part of lithium operations in the country through individual or public-private partnerships.

The government's objective is to involve state companies in all the processes of the lithium industry and develop the nation's capacity beyond only exploration and extraction.

President Gabriel Boric has highlighted that current contracts would be respected. However, private companies have already started negotiations with Codelco ahead of their contract expiration.

So far, Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM) (Santiago), which operates the Salar del Carmen lithium mine in the Salar de Atacama, has already started negotiations with Codelco ahead of the expiration of its contract in 2030. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Metals & Minerals project and plant databases can click here for related Salar del Carmen project reports and click here for the related plant profiles.

With the government's new lithium policy, Codelco will have an even larger role in Chile, putting further pressure on the company. Additionally, last week, Andre Sougarret, Codelco's chief executive officer, said he would resign in August due to personal reasons, one year after assuming the company's leadership.

"In these months we have faced complexities in the most diverse areas, not only because of all that managing this state-owned mining company implies in current times and circumstances, but also because, in personal terms, it has not been easy to reconcile the demands of the position with the care of the other facets that make up the life of a human being," said Sougarret in his resignation.

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