On January 1, 2025, the partnership between the state-owned company and Soquimich was to begin to exploit white gold in the Salar de Atacama until 2060.

This Wednesday, the Mining and Energy Commission of the Lower House will hold a session to receive the Chairman of the Board of Codelco, Máximo Pacheco; and the Vice President of Corporate Services and Sustainability of SQM, José Miguel Berguño.

Both executives are expected to speak about the Codelco-SQM agreement to produce lithium in the Salar de Atacama.

January 1, 2025 was the date on which the partnership between the state-owned company and Soquimich was to begin to exploit white gold until 2060, with Codelco holding a majority stake.

However, there are still pending authorizations, such as the National Economic Prosecutor's Office (FNE) certifying that there is no inconvenience from the point of view of free competition.

The summons of these authorities is relevant to Congress. UDI deputy Marco Sulantay said that representatives of the Chinese company Tianqi were previously summoned, and they have brought the agreement to court.

He said he hopes that the dialogue with Pacheco and Berguño will help clarify the process of association.

Independent pro-PPD deputy Cristian Tapia added that it has not yet been possible to prove why the association did not go through a bidding process beforehand, favoring the non-metallic mining company.

It should be noted that, at the same time, the Chamber of Deputies approved the creation of an investigative commission to compile information on the actions carried out by the state mining company and by Corfo, in relation to the partnership agreement that allows SQM to continue operating in the Salar de Atacama.

Another aspect that the supervisory authority will review is the background on the purchase of the Salar Blanco mine in Maricunga by Codelco.