Chile’s SQM Reaches Lithium Mining Accord With Codelco
- Deal would see Codelco take majority stake in new partnership
- SQM would retain operational control of Atacama through 2030
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SQM, the world’s second-largest lithium producer, reached a framework agreement to hand over a majority stake in its prized Chilean brine assets to state-owned Codelco in exchange for extending operations for three more decades.
If ratified, the deal would allow the new public-private partnership to increase output at one of the world’s richest sources of lithium. It’s also a critical first step in the government’s model for opening up new areas for producing the key component in electric-vehicle batteries as demand accelerates in the energy transition.