Chile proposes idea to Codelco, but mining company remains skeptical about investment.
The government has proposed a partnership with Codelco to invest in lithium, which has been heralded as one of the most important minerals in the global economy with huge potential.
The salt flats of Atacama (Photo by Ferrando/Flickr)
Chile possesses 40 percent of the entire global resource that can be used in technology from rechargeable batteries to satellites, according to a recent study, and the government is eager to take advantage of it.
Mining Subsecretary Pablo Wagner told La Tercera that the government has been discussing ways to exploit the metallic salt for two years.
“The possibility to associate or create a joint venture can open many opportunities with a natural resource that is readily available,” Wagner said.
Codelco, however, does not have lithium as a priority. Chief Executive Diego Hernández said the company has been constantly looking at new markets and businesses, including lithium, but it was not within their strategic policies for 2012.
He added that one of the reasons is because the turnover for lithium would not be as high as they would like.
“The global market for lithium is less than US$1 billion per year,” Hernández said.
In late 2009, Codelco commissioned a prospective study of the Pedernales, a salt flat in the Atacama Desert, but Hernandez said that the study, which was done in 2011, did not give the results they were hoping for.
“However, Codelco is open to discuss and analyze different business ventures with the government,”
Hernández said.
By Jade Hobman (hobman@santiagotimes.cl)
Copyright 2011 – The Santiago Times
Add comment
(IMO) Sometimes I'm to the point, and sometimes I'm out in left field. JMHO
