1. SQM, one of the worlds biggest lithium producers and also...

1. SQM, one of the worlds biggest lithium producers and also Chilean, paid big bucks to buy Australian hard rock lithium, rather than develop Chilean or more broadly South American brine lithium....why do you think that is?
2. Lithium concentrate can be any grade. Its a "concentrate". "Higher grade than Australian hard rock lithium producers" means absolutely nothing without context.
How Galan arrived at that concentrate grade should be your focus. A lot of water is required to liberate and concentrate lithium from brines. Last I checked the South American brine lakes sit in one of the driest places on the planet, and this dryness is actually fundamental to the original deposition of the lithium brines.
a. Local farmers and industry use the only available meagre water supplies.
b. Bulk commodities rely on cheap mining and production costs and limited transport costs. Moving water to the brines or moving the brines to water is the limiting factor and always has been.
SQM know this, why dont investors?
As always DYOR. Good luck punters.