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.
