Lithium Power International Ltd (fka LTHHF)

[Dr_Vonschellan]

Loudspeakers_blare out:_Mario! another_clean-up on aisle_4!
Marcel defends the role of the State in the national lithium policy: "This is the most common form of exploitation"
https://www.latercera.com/pulso/noticia/marcel-defiende-el-rol-del-estado-en-la-politica-nacional-del-litio-esta-es-la-modalidad-mas-comun-de-explotacion/ZWSK7ECIMREFJNJ2X2K5GQFOQI/
See below for English translation.

The Doctor
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Marcel defends the role of the State in the national lithium policy: "This is the most common form of exploitation"
by Emiliano Carrizo

After criticism of the role that the public sector will have in the lithium industry, the Minister of Finance, Mario Marcel, raised where the State has a majority stake in companies that are dedicated to the exploitation of natural resources is something that is already used in the world.

The Minister of Finance, Mario Marcel, responded to the criticism that came out regarding the role of the majority participation that the State will have in the new companies that are formed to exploit national lithium. The minister stated that the proposals of the national strategy are formulas that already exist in the world, and that the policy in relation to the mineral comes to make the access of the private sector to this resource more flexible.

“What the national lithium policy has done is open up that alternative towards a State association through a public company, immediately through Codelco, and in the future, if the national lithium company is created, it will be through of this”, Marcel said in an interview with Radio Duna.

Marcel also stood up to the debate of those who say that the initiative is a nationalization of lithium and pointed out that the so-called white gold is already considered property of the State, and in 1979 it was detailed that its exploitation cannot be concession-ed as is the case today with lithium. copper. In this way, today, it can only be exploited by the private sector through special contracts, as is the case today in the operations of SQM and Albemarle in the Salar de Atacama.

“You cannot nationalize something that is already owned by the State. Talking about nationalizing lithium is like talking about privatizing the Bank of Chile (...) I think that is something that everyone who is most closely linked to this sector should know, but something that is owned by the State does not mean that it is not owned by the State. can develop together with the private sector”, he added.

On the issue of State control of companies, the Minister of Finance opened up the possibility that based on the fact that lithium extraction technology is more environmentally friendly and is a limited project, that company may not be in control of the State. This, given that the initiative would not be of “strategic significance”.

Given this context, Marcel also commented that the model in which the State has a leading role occurs in other parts of the world: "It seems as if it were something that we are inventing out of thin air, but this is the most common modality of resource exploitation natural”.

Regarding the process to obtain the approval of the national lithium strategy in Congress, the economist called to focus on "the underlying issues" about the need to have this initiative and define its governance similar to the one that Codelco has today so that the administration on duty does not affect lithium projects.

Meanwhile, regarding the negotiation that is sought with Albemarle and SQM regarding their operation and contracts in the Salar de Atacama, he stressed that, although the Executive has objectives regarding the role it wants to have in these operations, Marcel pointed out that both parties have to come to an agreement

On the other hand, the Secretary of State bet that, after the last proposal of the Executive in relation to the mining royalty, the congress is inclined to approve it after entering indications, which, in Marcel's opinion, were agreed with the parliamentarians: "It is coming The moment the topic has to be closed, we cannot discuss these things forever”.