Lithium mining in Chile
Lithium mining in Chile is the second largest in the world in terms of extraction after it was surpassed by Australia in 2012.[1][2][A] Chile, like Argentina and Bolivia, is located within the Lithium Triangle, an area of South America that houses the largest known reserves of lithium on the planet. Likewise, Chilean mining leads the world in the extraction of lithium through an evaporation process from brines with high concentrations of this mineral, unlike Australian mining, which extracts it mainly from hard rocks.[4][5][B] Estimates show that Chile is expected to be surpassed also by Argentina and China in lithium production by 2030.[3] Industry analyst Gustavo Lagos suggests that lithium production in Chile will by 2030 represent be about 8% of the world's total production.[6] Chile has the world's cheapest production costs for lithium and this could be an advantage for mining in Chile once recycled lithium enters the market competing with costly mining operations in the future.[7]
Most of Chile's lithium reserves are in Salar de Atacama and Salar de Maricunga,[4] and all lithium extracted in Chile as of 2023 comes from Salar de Atacama.[8] The only two lithium-extracting companies currently operating in Chile, SQM and Albemarle, have licences to extract lithium until 2030 and 2043 respectively.[8][9] In April 2023 Chilean government announced plans for nationalizing its lithium industry.[10] The state-owned copper company Codelco was commissioned by the government to negotiate nationalization with SQM.[9]
In 2025 the company Nova Andino Litio was established as joint venture of Codelco and SQM. In the agreement that created Nova Andino Litio Codelco maintains control of the assets while SQM runs the operation in Salar de Atacama.[11] The setup of the company gives the Chilean state most of the income of the company in the form of an approximate 70% of the operating margin "associated with new production".[12] Beginning in 2031 the Chilean state is expected to obtain 85% of the operating margin associated with new production.[12] This last mentioned income is divided between taxes, payments to Corfo and profits for Codelco.[12]
Environmental impact
[edit]A 2024 cradle-to-gate water-footprint analysis of lithium production at the Salar de Atacama reported potential water-scarcity impacts of 442 m³ world-equivalents per tonne using the AWARE method (and 5.5 m³ world-equivalents using WAVE+), with concentrated brine production dominating the footprint.[13]
National Lithium Strategy
[edit]The National Lithium Strategy (Spanish: Estrategía Nacional del Litio) is a policy of the Chilean state aimed to develop lithium extraction –of which Chile currently ranks second in the world– "to increase wealth for the country" and to link "Chile's economic development with the shift towards a global green economy".[14][15] The policy aims to create the following entities, the state-owned mining company National Lithium Company, the Protected Salt Flats Network and the Public Technological and Research Institute of Lithium and Salt Flats.[14] The National Lithium Company and the Chilean Economic Development Agency (CORFO) will join to form the Committee on Lithium and Salt Flats.[14]
This policy was announced in 2023 by President Gabriel Boric.[citation needed]
Notes
[edit]- ^ In 2016, having ramped-up its production, Chile was again the main producer but lost that position in 2017 when production in Australia rose dramatically.[3]
- ^ An example of hard rock lithium mining in Australia is the Greenbushes mine near Perth.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ Burgos, Sandra (29 April 2023). "La fórmula que convirtió a Australia en el principal productor de litio en el mundo". La Tercera (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 September 2025.
- ^ "Chile repunta en mercado del litio, pero sigue lejos del liderazgo de Australia". Plus Mining (in Spanish). 9 February 2023. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
- ^ a b "Argentina could help the world by becoming a big lithium exporter". The Economist. 15 November 2022. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
- ^ a b Cabello, J. (2022). "Reserves, resources and lithium exploration in the salt flats of northern Chile". Andean Geology. 49 (2): 297–306. doi:10.5027/andgeoV49n2-3444. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
- ^ a b Kurmelovs, Royce (17 November 2022). "Cómo Australia se convirtió en la mayor fuente de litio del mundo (y en qué se diferencia su extracción de la de Chile, Bolivia y Argentina)". BBC Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 April 2023.
- ^ Lagos, Gustavo (22 November 2023). Tendencias en el mercado del litio. Clase Ejecutiva (PDF) (Report) (in Spanish).
- ^ Garip, Patricia (10 April 2024). "Can Chile Meet the Moment on Lithium?". Americas Quarterly. Retrieved 11 April 2025.
- ^ a b Munita C., Ignacia (21 April 2023). "Control estatal de los salares, negociar con SQM y empresa nacional: Las claves de la estrategia del Gobierno por litio". Emol (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 April 2023.
- ^ a b Browne R., Vicente (21 April 2023). "Las razones del desplome bursátil de SQM tras el anuncio presidencial del litio". Ex-Ante (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 April 2023.
- ^ Villegas, Alexander; Scheyder, Ernest (21 April 2023). "Chile plans to nationalize its vast lithium industry". Reuters. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
- ^ "La sociedad entre Codelco y SQM alcanzó 233.000 toneladas de carbonato de litio equivalente en 2025 y proyecta crecer hasta 300.000 toneladas hacia fines de la década". Minería y Futuro (in Spanish). 24 February 2026. Retrieved 5 March 2026.
- ^ a b c "Nova Andino Litio move into Chilean lithium implementation phase". International Mining. 29 December 2025. Retrieved 4 March 2026.
- ^ Marinova, Sylvia; Roche, Lindsey; Link, Andreas; Finkbeiner, Matthias (2024). "Water footprint of battery-grade lithium production in the Salar de Atacama, Chile". Journal of Cleaner Production. 487 144635. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.144635. Retrieved 2 November 2025.
- ^ a b c "National Lithium Strategy". Gob.cl. Retrieved 3 August 2025.
- ^ USGS Lithium Production Statistics