12 companies vie to partner with Chile's Enami on Salares Altoandinos lithium project

Chilean state-owned miner Enami received 12 expressions of interest from companies and consortiums from eight countries for the development, operation and financing of the Salares Altoandinos lithium project.

The initiative in northern Chile’s Atacama region is in the exploration phase and involves estimated investments of US$1.5 billion.

The parties vying to be partners of subsidiary Enami Litio are Rio Tinto (UK-Australia), Tecpetrol (Argentina), Summit Nanotech-Hatch (Canada), BYD (China) and CNRG (China), BTR (China), Besalco (Chile), Grupo Errázuriz-IBC (Chile), LG Energy Solution (South Korea), Posco (South Korea), Eramet (France) and Axionit (Russia).

“This confirms the companies' conviction to advance in a public-private partnership process to realize the project and it reflects the trust and credibility that Enami has in the sector,” said the firm’s executive VP Iván Mlynarz.

The Enami team and its board of directors, chaired by mining minister Aurora Williams, will evaluate the offers and are due to deliver the results on August 19 before moving forward with the negotiations.

Meanwhile, engineering studies are currently being carried out for Salares Altoandinos, which includes the Aguilar, La Isla and Grande aquifers, in order to confirm the investment, the production plan and prepare the project for construction, Mlynarz told BNamericas in an interview last April.

The exploration campaign will resume in September to establish the resources and reserves available in the deposits, the statement reads.

Another aspect under review is the direct lithium extraction (DLE) technology that will be used in Salares Altoandinos. In another call, Enami collected proposals to provide the technology from 30 companies and consortiums, including Eramet Chile, LG Energy Solutions, Lilac Solutions, Posco, Rio Tinto, Sorcia, Sunresin New Materials, Cytec, Tenova, Worley, Zelandez Services, Sumitomo Metal Mining and Summit Nanotech, among others.

"The list of selected candidates will be announced in the short term," an Enami source told BNamericas.

Salares Altoandinos is a key part of the national lithium strategy being pursued by the government of President Gabriel Boric. At the same time, the administration is also working to resolve the complex financial situation of Enami.