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When will Minera Salar Blanco's investments in Chile begin?
The objective is to complete the financial structuring process during the first half of 2023, for which work is being done with the main banks and institutions worldwide, to immediately start the construction of the project, whose total investment in its first stage will be for approximately US$700 million.After more than 7 years of development, and close to US$ 65 million invested through its controller, the Australian company Lithium Power International Ltd., the Minera Salar Blanco project, whose construction will take approximately 2 and a half years , is currently the most advanced real project in South America in terms of development and will undoubtedly become the third national lithium production operation in the short term.The objective is to produce, in a first stage, an average of 15,200 tons of high purity lithium carbonate (battery grade) per year and about 35,000 tons of potassium chloride for a period of 20 years, generating more than 1,200 jobs. during the construction process and contributing to Chile continuing to maintain a relevant position in this industry worldwide.
How does it affect you if the State defines Codelco as the only company that can exploit the Salar de Maricunga?
As an Australian company, we have confidence in the institutionality and legal security of Chile and in its respect for international treaties. The ownership of Minera Salar Blanco's concessions and the rights thereto have always been clear to the company and therefore Minera Salar Blanco will continue to develop its project as is its objective. The company is currently the holder of more than 2,500 hectares of mining concessions in the Salar de Maricunga, where it has certified more than 3 million tons of lithium resources under international standards and of which close to 50% come from concessions constituted prior to the declaration of non-acceptability of lithium in 1979. This first stage of the project has been developed precisely on said concessions, being the State itself, through its institutions specifically established for this, who has granted us all the permits (RCA and Chilean Nuclear Energy Commission), in addition to the mining easements granted by the courts, all of this has given us the confidence to continue advancing and investing in the country during these 7 years. Likewise, it is important to emphasize that we hope to continue advancing and working closely with the State of Chile (whether through Codelco, Enami or the vehicle that is defined) in order to strengthen the policy of public-private alliances in Chile and advance as soon as possible, through them in the future stages of the project in Maricunga. We are convinced that the opportunity for lithium is today, not in 8 or 10 years, which is what it would take to develop and build a new project. The good news for Chile is that we have the Minera Salar Blanco project that is in that position: starting in 2023.
Have you approached Codelco to find out if you want to be strategic partners of Minera Salar Blanco? If so, what have they been told? During the last government of President Bachelet in 2017, when the lithium commission was defined, we began rapprochement with both Codelco and Enami and they were directly invited to participate in the Minera Salar Blanco project. The foregoing led to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with Codelco in mid-2019, already in the government of President Piñera, to jointly advance the project, which unfortunately did not progress as we wanted. Of course, we continue with our initial project whose construction we started this year.
The State of Chile is interested in industrializing lithium. Do you have any specific proposal in this regard?
This is a very relevant point and we fully share the vision of the authorities. The lithium industry is advancing at great speed and we believe that Chile has all the possibilities and resources, both in terms of human capital and infrastructure, to become a hub for the development of materials with greater added value that serve the electromobility industry. Although it must be clarified that we do not see Chile producing batteries in the short or medium term, we do see the production of lithium materials and cathodes in the country as something very feasible as a first step.It was in this same line that Minera Salar Blanco signed an agreement in 2018 with the Chinese company Fulin Sichuan, one of the main producers of cathode materials in the world, for the construction of the first plant of these elements in South America, precisely in Chile. , whose investment would reach US$ 250 million. Unfortunately, the lithium shortage did not allow this development to continue, but we are convinced that it is something that can be a reality in the short term.
