Chile leads the world in copper production and holds the world's highest lithium reserves in the Salar de Atacama, yet ranks only second in lithium output

Background

The United States Department of Commerce's country commercial guide for Chile records Chile as the top copper producer in the world with 24 percent of global copper production and, citing the United States Geological Survey, as the world's second largest producer of lithium with 27 percent of global lithium production. In 2024 the Chilean mining sector produced 5.5 million tons of copper, a five percent increase on the year before. On the same authority, 36 percent of the world's lithium reserves are located in Chile, and Chilean lithium output rose from 44,300 MT of lithium content in 2023 to 49,000 MT in 2024. Chile's Ministry of Economy records that the Salar de Atacama holds the highest level of lithium reserves in the world [mayor nivel de reservas de litio en el mundo] and is the only salt flat in the country with productive operations at present, run by Albemarle and by SQM Salar SpA under the contracts they hold with Corfo, the state production development agency that owns the mining property there. Chile therefore stands first on lithium reserves but second on lithium output, because its lithium sits for the most part in brine deposits, lakes of saline groundwater beneath salt flats, which take years to bring into production. The Comptroller General cleared [tomó razón] the Corfo resolution approving the amendments to the SQM Salar SpA lease and project contracts, whose validity runs to 2030, and the new lease and project contracts with the state mining company Codelco and its subsidiary Minera Tarar SpA, which take effect from 2031 to 2060.