Chile’s President blocks push for private lithium concessions

Chile’s President Gabriel Boric has vowed to block a proposal by conservative lawmakers seeking to let private companies mine the country’s vast lithium reserves.

Boric announced earlier this year a national lithium strategy based on the metal’s status as “critical”, which sets up a state-led public-private model. 

The initiative has drawn both criticism and praise, with some experts saying that greater state control will discourage investors, and others noting that the plan opens a path for private investment in a sector that has been closed to new companies for decades.

In a ceremony during National Miners Day on Thursday, Boric argued that granting private concessions would violate the rights of the Indigenous communities that live in the areas where lithium is found. 

“As long as I’m president, lithium will belong to all Chileans,” Boric said at the event in the capital Santiago. “That’s why we’re against this initiative.”

The president’s stance is in line with his campaign promise to defend the public interest and the environment from corporate interests.

Analysts from Fastmarkets believe that, if Chile fails to capitalize on the lithium boom, it would fall from its current position as the world’s second-largest lithium producer to fourth in 2030 after China, Australia and Argentina. They forecast the country’s share of production would shrink from almost a third to 12%.

Global demand for lithium, according to the government’s projections, will quadruple by 2030, reaching 1.8 million tonnes. Available supply by then is expected to sit at 1.5 million tonnes. 

The country’s strategic Atacama region, which is also home to vast copper mines, supplies nearly one-quarter of the globe’s lithium.