The Government of Chile received proposals from international consortia for white gold exploration and exploitation projects.
More than 50 companies and consortia from 10 countries participated in the open process promoted by the Government of Chile - through the Ministry of Mining - to demonstrate interest in lithium exploration and exploitation projects.
The call lasted 60 days until Monday, June 17, when the period for receiving more than 80 expressions of interest ended.
Now, the background evaluation begins where priority areas will be defined for the execution of projects and what the mechanisms will be to assign the contracts (Special Lithium Operation Contracts), where prior indigenous consultations must also be carried out "in case of susceptibility to affectation.”
Dozens of foreign companies show interest in Chilean lithium
The Minister of Mining, Aurora Williams, highlighted the joint effort between the ministries of Economy, Finance, Foreign Affairs and institutions such as Corfo and InvestChile to “promote the process in a transparent manner, providing as much information as possible to those interested in Chile and abroad.” .
In parallel to this process (RFI, or Request for Information in English), two indigenous consultations are being carried out in the Salar de Maricunga (Codelco) and in the Salares Altoandinos project of Enami, and in Salar de Atacama for Corfo projects.
“All this adds to the work of the Ministry of Science for the creation of the Public Technological Research Institute of Lithium and Salts, and the commitment of the Ministry of the Environment to begin studies for the creation of the Network of Protected Salt Flats,” concluded Williams. .
The results of the process will be announced on July 9.
Enami High Andean Salt Flats Project
One of the projects mentioned by the Minister of Mining was Enami's Salares Altoandinos. In that initiative, the state company reported that, according to preliminary data, the concentration of lithium in the Salar Aguilar would leave the project as “one of the most important in the world of lithium,” highlighted the executive vice president of Enami, Iván Mlynarz.
“We have encouraging preliminary results, we have progress on the ground that has allowed us to develop important knowledge and there is work underway. “These are very important competitive advantages for investors interested in being part of the initiative,” said the executive.
In detail, it was found that -preliminarily- an average concentration of total lithium in the Salar Aguilar of 740 mg/l, with maximums of 984 mg/l. This corresponds to brine samples taken in the first 300 meters of drilling.
