Codelco, SQM ink lithium partnership agreement

Aerial view of the brine pools and processing areas of the Soquimich (SQM) lithium mine on the Atacama salt flat. (Image from: SQM Corporate Presentation.)

Chilean lithium miner SQM and state-run Codelco have reached a memorandum of understanding to form a government-controlled partnership for the future production of the key rechargeable battery metal, the firms said on Wednesday.

The two companies agreed to form a new company in which Codelco will have a majority stake and which will begin a first phase of operations in January 2025, the companies said in statements.

State-controlled public-private partnerships are the key element of President Gabriel Boric’s new lithium mining strategy announced last April aiming to generate more broad-based benefits from surging demand for the ultra-light white metal.

(By Natalia Ramos, Fabian Cambero and Brendan O’Boyle; Editing by David Alire Garcia)

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