Lithium Power International Ltd (fka LTHHF)

[Dr_Vonschellan]

Talks_between Codelco_&SQM regarding_Maricunga are/were going_on
https://www.latercera.com/pulso-pm/noticia/la-reunion-que-tuvo-codelco-con-el-presidente-y-el-gerente-general-sqm-antes-de-la-estrategia-nacional-del-litio/WTHJ7JOBCVBV7PXJCENEUDSFAY/ however Codelco is still being a horse's ass and demanding 51% ownership in SQM's Maricunga 33 concessions covering 6,000 hectares... which is a non-starter for SQM again same as it has been for the last 6 years with Codelco so nothing new there. See below for rough English translation of the Pulso article.

The Doctor
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The meeting that Codelco had with the president and general manager SQM before the national lithium strategy
by Victor Guillou

Máximo Pacheco, chairman of the board, revealed that he had a meeting with SQM's president, Gonzalo Guerrero, and his general manager, Ricardo Ramos. The meeting, however, was prior to the launch of the government strategy that commissioned to negotiate the entry of the State to the Salar de Atacama. From SQM they say that the meeting was to talk about the lithium industry, something that the company has done with various authorities and companies.

Máximo Pacheco, Chairman of the Board of Codelco, the largest Chilean state company and the world's leading copper producer, as well as the company mandated by the government to negotiate with SQM and Albemarle to enter the Salar de Atacama, revealed that he met with executives from SQM before the announcement of the national lithium strategy, launched on April 20.

In a dialogue with Radio Biobío, the former Minister of Energy also stated that he had a meeting with the president and general manager of SQM.

“They went to see me in my (Codelco) office, I was with two or three of the main executives, to tell me that they considered that lithium was very important to give it a boost, that it was very important to increase production, that it was very important that the State take action on this matter, and define a policy that would promote and develop that," Pacheco said.

When asked which SQM executives he met with, he explained that they were the company's president, Gonzalo Guerrero, and the general manager, Ricardo Ramos.

Pacheco ruled out having had or the possibility of having talks with Julio Ponce Lerou, a shareholder of the Pampa group, which has the largest ownership interest in SQM, with 25.76%. "This is not a negotiation with a natural person, this is a conversation with a legal person," he said of his decision.

The meeting with SQM, however, was not to discuss the national lithium strategy (NLP) announced in April. From SQM they said that the meeting held with Codelco occurred within the framework of various meetings that the company has had with authorities and other actors -including private mining companies-, to explain their plans in the lithium business. In September 2022, the company launched the so-called Salar Futuro, a plan that commits investments of US$1.5 billion, but which is subject to making the lease contract with Corfo more flexible, which ends in 2030. At SQM, they are interested in talking with Codelco about the opportunities that the rise of electromobility has opened up for the two main mining companies in Chile today, copper and lithium. In addition, SQM raised the issue of the Salar de Maricunga with Codelco, a deposit where Codelco has assets and a CEOL (Special Lithium Operation Contract) and where SQM also has concessions.

Codelco has rights equivalent to 18% of the surface of the salt flat, for some 2,500 hectares, all of which are pre-1979 belongings, which enables them to exploit lithium. In Maricunga, SQM has 33 concessions for approximately 6,600 hectares, all dating back to 1979.

Throughout his interview with Bio Bio, Máximo Pacheco defended the negotiating role that Codelco was been given in the definition of the policy to promote the development of the lithium industry, noting that the negotiations, both with SQM and Albemarle, will be carried out in institutional way, and respecting the exploitation contracts that both companies maintain in the Atacama salt flat, until 2030 and 2043, respectively.

In particular, he (Pacheco) highlighted the requirement that Codelco or ENAMI participate with 51% ownership in future lithium exploitation contracts, as well as the role of the public-private association for the future of the industry.

“Lithium, as a project, is going to be a joint venture like the one we have in El Abra and like the one we also have in Los Bronces. We are partners in other mining projects, and here we are going to be partners with the characteristics indicated by the President of the Republic, with two considerations: that it has 51% ownership and that the contracts in force with the companies that are currently in the salt flat they are fully respected”, stressed Pacheco.

"We are going to sit down with these companies, we are going to see the wonderful negotiations that are here, the tremendous opportunity that we have as a country," he added about the nature of the negotiation that the state mining company will face.