Lithium: Chile plans to nationalise its industry

Chilean President Gabriel Boric said he wants to nationalise the country’s lithium industry and create a state-owned company to produce the metal, which is a key component of electric vehicle batteries.

Boric stated that future contracts for lithium would only be in the form of public-private partnerships with state control. Chile has the largest lithium reserves in the world and is the second largest producer.

Currently, lithium is produced from hard rock or brine mines. Australia is the world’s largest supplier, with production from hard rock mines. Argentina, Chile and China produce it mainly from salt lakes.

According to the Australian Department of Industry, Science and Resources’ Quarterly Resources and Energy Report in March, world production was 737,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) in 2022 and is estimated to reach 964,000 tonnes in 2023 and 1,167,000 tonnes in 2024.

The rapid growth is expected to be met by production increases in Australia, Chile and Argentina.

THE WORLD’S LARGEST LITHIUM MINES

• Greenbushes, Western Australia, by Talison Lithium (a joint venture between Tianqi Lithium, IGO and Albemarle Corp). Current production capacity of 1.34 million tonnes per year of chemical and technical grade lithium concentrate;
• Pilgangoora, Western Australia, owned by Pilbara Minerals, produces 360,000 to 380,000 tonnes of spodumene concentrate per year, with two expansions underway that will increase capacity to one million tonnes per year;
• Mt Cattlin, Western Australia, owned by Allkem, the merged company of Orocobre and Galaxy Resources, produced 194,000 tonnes of spodumene concentrate in 2022;
• Mibra, Minas Gerais, Brazil, owned by Advanced Metallurgical Group, produces 90,000 tonnes of spodumene per year, with plans to expand to 130,000 tonnes by the end of Q2 2023;
• Mount Marion, in Western Australia, owned by Mineral Resources Ltd, was on track to produce 450,000-600,000 tonnes of spodumene in August 2022, with targeted expansion to 900,000 tonnes per year delayed until July 2023.Salar de Atacama, Antofagasta, Chile, owned by Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile, produces 180,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate per year and plans to increase to 210,000 by 2024.
  

  Weekly International Lithium Price List in Euro – Powered by Commodity Evolution

Battery elements – Lithium euro/ton – Powered by Commodity Evolution