Stardust Power breaks ground on $1.2bn lithium refinery in Oklahoma
The project will be developed in two phases, with a production capacity of 50,000 tonnes per annum.
Chile, home to the world’s biggest lithium reserves, is confident that investors will compete for licenses to drill new deposits even amid a worsening global glut that’s squeezing the battery metal industry.
“We’re convinced that there’s interest,” Mining Minister Aurora Williams said in an interview late Wednesday — a day before Chile warned that global oversupply is set to increase this year, despite some cutbacks in the industry.
Companies have until Jan. 31 to apply directly for contracts as the government looks to open up new areas to lithium mining. Authorities have already started indigenous consultation processes for as yet untapped salt flats. Other clay and geothermal deposits are also being offered to the private sector.
The new areas — identified partly based on expressions of interest from prospective bidders — are part of the government’s efforts to boost production under a public-private model. Chile, the top lithium producer after Australia, is banking on investors taking a long-term view on the strength of electric vehicle demand as prices stabilize from a sharp pullback.
Still, oversupply in the market is set to swell this year as Chinese demand slows, according to a report released Thursday by Chilean agency Cochilco, which also cited the threat of sweeping US tariffs.
Currently, only two companies produce lithium in Chile — SQM and Albemarle Corp. — from a single salt flat. They are expected to push up national output by 7% this year to 305,000 metric tons, Cochilco estimates.
Under the government’s model for the sector, the state will take a controlling stake in operations considered strategically significant, while allowing private firms to retain control of projects in non-strategic areas. The goal is to more than double output over the next decade.
Authorities are expected to grant Enami a lithium operating license soon, paving the way for Chilean state company to secure partners to develop the project. Another state mining firm, Codelco, is lining up a partner for the Maricunga lithium project. Williams declined to comment on those processes.
(By James Attwood)
Comments