This is for all you skeptics who think there needs to be a policy change in Chilean law in order for MMTE to secure lithium reserves.
Local firms to tap lithium site in Chile
November 16, 2010
Two domestic companies have inked a deal to participate in a massive lithium project at a vast salt lake in Chile's Atacama Desert, a move that will help Korea secure a valuable natural resource used to make rechargeable batteries found in everything from laptops to cars.
Korea Resources Corporation (Kores) and Samsung C&T signed an agreement yesterday in Santiago, Chile, to acquire 30 percent of a lithium extraction project spearheaded by Group Errazuriz, which controls the mining rights to the salt lake.
Kores and Samsung C&T will invest a total of $190 million in the venture, with the companies gaining an 18 percent and 12 percent share in the project, respectively.
The deal marks the first time that Korean companies have secured a share of an actual productive lithium mine, as in the past domestic firms have only won the rights to explore certain sites.
Under the plan, the companies will establish a purification facility in the western part of the salt lake next year and a lithium-manufacturing plant near the city of Antofagasta in 2014.
The plant will initially produce 20,000 tons of lithium a year for Korean companies. Kores and Samsung C&T will eventually raise production to 40,000 tons annually, giving Korea an ample amount of the resource for years to come. Last year, Korea secured just 5,140 tons of lithium carbonates.
AI
