Eramet to Explore Four of Lithium Chile's Projects

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Written by Amir Richani for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Lithium Chile (Calgary, Alberta) is farming out four of its projects to Eramet (Paris, France) in search of new lithium reserves.

Lithium Chile and Eramet have signed an exploration partnership agreement covering more than 40,000 hectares. Through this deal, Eramet will conduct exploration work at Lithium Chile's Llamara, Aguilar, Rio Salado and Aguas Caliente assets, all located in Chile.

Eramet will launch an exploration program in three phases over the next three to four years, costing about US$20 million. As part of the agreement, Eramet "shall earn share capital in the Joint Venture holding the mining tenements, totaling up to 70% at the end of phase 3 with an option to reach 100% equity," according to the company statement.

Moreover, Lithium Chile will receive a success bonus based on the quantities of resources discovered.

"This partnership underscores our shared commitment to advancing sustainable mineral projects in Chile. We look forward to leveraging their capabilities to maximize the potential of our Chilean properties," said Steve Cochrane, president and chief executive of Lithium Chile.

Lithium Chile has a total of nine lithium mining areas in Chile and Argentina at different stages of development. While the projects included in the agreement with Eramet are still in the early exploration stage, Lithium Chile's Arizaro mine in Argentina is in stage-two exploration, with new lithium deposits discovered and announced in February. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Metals & Minerals Project Database can click here for related reports on the project.

This news comes as the Chilean lithium industry is restructuring. Last year, the government of Gabriel Boric announced a new national lithium strategy aimed at granting the state more control of the industry by incorporating national lithium companies into the sector.

So far, Chile has two producing lithium mines, one operated by Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) (Charlotte, North Carolina) and the other by Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile ( (NYSE:SQM) (SQM) (Santiago, Chile). Both companies have been negotiating their contracts with Chilean authorities following the government's new lithium strategy.

According to the United States Geological Survey 2024 report, Chile is the world's second-largest lithium producer, behind Australia, with 44,000 metric tons. Chile also holds the world's third-largest lithium resource, with 11 million tons, behind its neighbors Bolivia and Argentina.

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