The specific invitation from the Chilean Government is to “express interest in participating in projects related to the exploration, exploitation and downstream processing of lithium contained in salt flats or other types of deposits in Chile.” “We hope that they will indeed express interest in the 26 salt flats that represent 18% of the saline territory of our country. This is a process that begins today with the publication of these bases,” Williams said.

Likewise, he explained that this is a process that will last 60 days starting Monday, April 15. “The consultation period will be held until May 17: 10 days after the expiration of the consultation period, we will generate the response that this entails, and the deadline expires on June 17, 2024; and the publication of the results of those salaries where there was an expression of interest will be made until July 9.”

The Chilean Minister of Mining said that the National Lithium Strategy has three key objectives: “On the one hand, to increase production; to have better environmental protection; and to have greater added value in production. This announcement is especially relevant to the first objective.”

Grau emphasized that the current strategy encourages public-private collaboration, as in the case of the Salar de Maricunga (Maricunga’s salt flat), where there is state participation and the call for interest from the private sector.