LPI Has the Best Pre-developed Lithium Resource on the Planet, page-47

I agree. The news that SQM/Corfo have come to an agreement IMO is positive for lithium in Chile. The agreement gets rid of any lingering doubt and uncertainty and along with the newly elected pro-business president, I see Chile as a positive place for lithium hopefuls such as LPI in the future.

From the below recent Reuters article re SQM/Corfo's agreement:
https://www.reuters.com/article/sqm...-strike-deal-in-lithium-dispute-idUSL1N1PC2D6

'The deal also includes an option that would permit SQM to work with state miner Codelco to begin developing the Maricunga lithium deposit. Codelco, one of the world’s largest copper producers, has lithium assets in Chile but is currently not producing the metal. “Our intention is to make it available for Codelco so it can ... make viable the development of a new activity in this area,” Bitran told reporters.'

Keep in mind that the Codelco and SQM Maricunga tenements are to the south of MSB/LPI's and are less prospective and have had very little to no exploration on them. My understanding is that they are at least 4 years behind MSB. MSB also have the only old mining code tenements that allow for immediate lithium exploitation. It is clear that the government agencies in Chile want Maricunga developed and IMO this can only be positive for LPI.


Here is a bit of a refresher from a translated article back in August last year from LPI's 15 Aug ann in regards to the Maricunga tender... I wonder if Albemarle are still in play here like the article suggests?:
http://www.mch.cl/2017/08/14/codelc...ar-sqm-martin-borda-explotar-litio-maricunga/
Codelco will be forced to negotiate with SQM or Martín Borda to exploit lithium in Maricunga

DDiario Financiero) Although both SQM and Minera Salar Blanco, a firm linked to businessman Martín Borda and other international partners, were left out of Codelco's partner search process to enter the lithium business, the state company must enter into negotiations with one of them or, even, with both.

This, because these companies have belongings that can be key for the state to manage to structure an attractive project in the Salar de Maricunga, the second most important in the country, located in the Atacama region.

Although both SQM and Minera Salar Blanco, a firm linked to businessman Martín Borda and other international partners, were left out of Codelco's partner search process to enter the lithium business, the state company must enter into negotiations with one of them or , even, with both.

This, because these companies have belongings that can be key for the state to manage to structure an attractive project in the Salar de Maricunga, the second most important in the country, located in the Atacama region.

Codelco has 18% of the salar (2,682 hectares, has), but has problems with the low quality of its properties, since 35% of these are located within the Nevado Tres Cruces National Park, which practically eliminates the possibility of installing some project in the sector.

Similarly, the main discharge of fresh water from the salt is located in the north of it, through the flow of the Lama River, which results in the lithium concentrations that exist on the south side - where Codelco is located - are lower .

On the other hand, Salar Blanco has 2,574 hectares and SQM with 2,252 hectares, concentrating approximately 90% of the most attractive core of Maricunga, which guarantees an attractive return for a project that should cost around US $ 400 million.

In this scenario, knowledgeable sources of the process explain that Codelco will be forced to negotiate with one of these large owners. Especially with the mining company of Julio Ponce Lerou, given that it is his neighbor in the salar.
Consulted the company, said "have a relevant presence in the mining property of the salt," adding that "consolidation with other mining properties is desirable, but not critical to the success of our project."

However in the industry there are no two readings. Not only because of the quality of the belongings, but also because it will be necessary to reach economic agreements -such as buying belongings or paying royalties for the use of them- to avoid the judicialization of the initiative that develops together with a partner, this because the Another 40 actors of the salar could denounce exploitation, given that the extraction of brine in the Codelco area can affect the belongings of the rest.

Conditions for the member
By the end of the year, Codelco should announce who will be chosen to develop in lithium, a process that began last year and that in the first stage reached the interest of more than 10 companies.

The contest has not been exempt from criticism, especially due to the conditions with which future bidders must meet.
Sources familiar with the process indicate that in order to enter the second stage, companies were required to sign a confidentiality contract in which restrictive conditions were imposed for the development of the business, including the impossibility of carrying out litigation for any dispute with Codelco.

But the most complex clause has to do with the fact that the winner that will enter the subsidiary, must have or guarantee the acquisition of at least 2,000 hectares in Maricunga. This puts SQM and Salar Blanco in the spotlight again, since it makes sense for the winner to negotiate with any of them. There are also repairs with the quota that the state obtained through the Chilean Commission of Nuclear Energy (CChEN), which authorized the state to process and sell lithium in Maricunga for 325 thousand tons, but without having technical studies, nor a Resolution of Environmental Qualification.

Albemarle with advantage
With all these conditions, in the market they estimate that the strongest competitor that continues in the race is Albemarle, one of the two companies that exploits the Salar de Atacama, given that it is one of the few that could meet the conditions required by the state .

Through this company, the necessary negotiation could be given to obtain the belongings and develop an attractive project for the copper company.