I took this screen shot from a presentation made 2 years ago by...

I took this screen shot from a presentation made 2 years ago by the Mining Chamber of Chile. link Just thought y'all might find it interesting. It shows the different salars in chile. the % of which are owned by post 1979 mining concessions, the concentration of lithium, and geologic potential. Notice maricunga with most being post 1979, but not all. also notice how almost all other salars are 100% post 1979. Except one salar the pedernales which is 100% owned by codelco and 100% pre 1979. they have a bad reputation with environmental lawsuits and the likes with this salar. All this to me adds to the story that says codelco is not likely to get control over the pre 1979 mining concessions in maricunga.


Also a academic article came out in 2022 titled "Mining companies, indigenous communities, and the state: The political ecology of lithium in Chile (Salar de Atacama) and Argentina (Salar de Olaroz-Cauchari)" Link

Here is a nice quote from one section:
"
Finally, within days of the start of Piñera's second administration in 2018, MSB was authorized to extract lithium and other salts fro m the Salar de Maricunga salt flat. This company is controlled by the Australian company Lithium Power International Ltd (51%), the Chilean mining company MSB, and the Canadian Bearing Lithium Corporation (18%). MSB obtained a favorable environmental agreement that includes agreements with local communities. After MINSAL, which later became SQM, MSB is the only salt flat mining project that has been authorized for lit hium mining by a private company.
"