Nemaska Lithium Inc fka TSX:NMX

[Twister]

Chilean Regulators Reject Albemarle's Plans to Boost Output!

SANTIAGO, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Chilean environmental regulators has rejected plans by Albemarle Corp, the world's top lithium producer, to expand output from the Salar de Atacama salt flat, according to filings with Chile's Environmental Assessment Service (SEA) viewed by Reuters.

SEA said in a resolution on Monday that Albemarle's environmental impact statement, which included plans to build a new plant to produce 42,500 tonnes of lithium carbonate in northern Chile, lacked key information to gauge the project's impact, prompting an "early termination" of its review.

The agency also said Albemarle failed to adequately consider threats to the Peruvian tern, an endangered species of bird that inhabits the region.

The U.S. mining giant did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Albemarle filed the environmental impact statement (DIA) in September detailing plans to build the new plant near the northern Chilean coastal port of Mejillones as well as six new solar evaporation pools in the Salar de Atacama, which lies close to the border with Bolivia and Argentina.

Albemarle has said the upgrades would boost output without using more lithium-rich brine, or saltwater, from the environmentally sensitive salt flats.

The company has five days to appeal the decision, SEA said in its resolution.

Albemarle's expansion has been closely scrutinized by regulators in Chile who have increasingly cracked down on water use by both copper and lithium miners in the Salar de Atacama, which lies at the heart of the world's driest desert.

Plans by both Albemarle and top competitor SQM to expand production at the Salar de Atacama are deemed critical amid spiking demand for lithium, a key ingredient in batteries that power everything from cell phones to electric vehicles.

In September, Chile's nuclear commission, which oversees the sales and export of lithium in Chile, denied Albemarle's request to increase its production quota for the ultralight battery metal. The commission said Albemarle had failed to adequately explain how it would increase production without extracting more brine.

https://www.nasdaq.com/article/chilean-regulators-reject-albemarles-plans-to-boost-lithium-output-20181113-00616