Boric: "As long as I am president, lithium will belong to all Chileans"

The president of Chile, Gabriel Boric, spoke out this Thursday against the proposal to concession lithium slipped by senators from the right-wing parties Renovación Nacional (RN) and Unión Demócrata Independiente (UDI), stressing that his administration will continue to promote the Strategy Nacional del Litio that contemplates the State as a leading actor in the production process of the so-called white gold and giving a relevant role to the private sector.

“I have read the position of some political sectors, mainly from the right, in order to eliminate the non-concessibility of lithium and I want to tell you that as long as I am president, lithium will belong to all Chilean men and women,” he said in a public act.

“Therefore, we will oppose this initiative, but positively promoting the National Lithium Strategy,” he added.

With US capital, lithium began to be exploited in Chile 30 years ago through a simple brine evaporation process, after being pumped and deposited in large pools at a rate of 2,000 liters per second; the mineral is obtained when 95% of the water present in the original substance is lost.

Despite the fact that there are more than 50 salt flats in the South American country, currently only one is exploited, the aforementioned Atacama, the largest in Chile and the third largest in the world.

There are only two companies in charge of exploiting Chilean lithium: Sociedad Química y Minera SQM, controlled by China's Tianqi and the son-in-law of former dictator Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990), Julio Ponce Lerou; and the American Albemarle.

According to the Autonomous Fiscal Council (CFA), in 2022 the State received more than 5,000 million dollars (about 4,553 million euros) for the exploitation of this mineral, equivalent to 1.6% of GDP.

In 2022 there were sales of lithium carbonate abroad for 7,763 million dollars, an increase of 777% compared to 2021, according to the Central Bank.