A group of Chilean left-wing deputies presented before the courts a protection appeal to stop the bidding of contracts for the operation of lithium promoted by the government, in which the world’s two largest light metal producers are in the running.
Lawmakers from the center-left opposition party PPD presented the legal action before the Santiago Court of Appeals, which can accept or reject it.
Chile announced the auction process in October to award operating contracts to explore and produce 400,000 tons of lithium metal for batteries, in a bid to boost production and meet global demand. The Chilean SQM and the giant Albemarle are two of the five companies that are in the race.
The surprising bidding process, which will close in mid-January, has been criticized by opponents and the circle close to the president-elect Gabriel Boric, who affirmed that Chile cannot make the “historic mistake” of privatizing resources such as lithium again.
“What the president’s government is doing Sebastian Piñera it is putting the general interest of the nation at risk, ”said Deputy Raúl Soto, one of the promoters of the resource.
“It is putting business and private interests ahead once again over the interest of all Chileans to have security and, under state administration, with a natural resource as strategic and as important for the future of Chile as lithium. ”He added.
The deputies also consider that the tender violates the regulations on consultation with indigenous communities near the site of exploitation in the Atacama Desert, in the north of the country.
The government defends that the process has been transparent and that the companies will be partners of the State in the exploitation of the strategic resource. In addition, it ensures that the five quotas in the tender correspond to only 4.4% of the known reserves of the metal in Chile and that the tender does not prevent the creation of a national lithium company.
“Until 2016, Chile was the world’s largest producer, with 37% of the market. But today we fell to 31% and we have been overtaken by Australia. If we do not manage to increase production, by 2030 we will have fallen to 17% ”, wrote on Twitter earlier the Minister of Mining and Energy Juan Carlos Jobet.
The official added that they will talk with Boric’s team, which will assume command in March, to review the background of the process.
.
Ricardo is a renowned author and journalist, known for his exceptional writing on top-news stories. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he is known for his ability to deliver breaking news and insightful analysis on the most pressing issues of the day.
