President Gabriel Boric announced a plan Thursday to require private companies take Chile's government on as a partner in the extration of lithium, which is in high demand around the world for use in electric batteries.
A worker walks next to bags of lithium ready for export at the SQM processing plant in Antofagasta, Chile, Wednesday, April 19, 2023. President Gabriel Boric announced a plan Thursday to require private companies to take Chile's government on as a partner in the extraction of lithium, which is in high demand around the world for use in electric batteries.
Chile has the world's third largest lithium reserves, at 9.6 million tons, behind Bolivia with 21 million and Argentina with 19.3 million, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. But Chile was the world's second largest producer last year with an estimated 39,000 metric tons, after Australia, with 61,000 tons.
Currently, there are two companies that mine lithium in Chile: the U.S. company Albemarle and Chile's Chemical and Mining Society , which has been controlled for three decades by Julio Ponce, whose father-in-law was the late dictator Augusto Pinochet. Boric said Ponce's contracts will be respected.
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