A local court in northern Chile accepted an appeal for protection and ordered a halt to a tender for new contracts for lithium production that this week awarded quotas to the Chinese firm BYD and a local company.
The Court of Appeals of the city of Copiapó, capital of the Atacama region, decided to accept an appeal filed earlier this week by the regional authority, which asked to stop the auction arguing that it violated the powers of the local administration and the right to live in a pollution-free environment.
The Ministry of Mining reported on Wednesday the award of two of the five contracts offered, for 80,000 tons of salable metallic lithium each, to the Chinese firm BYD and the Chilean firm Servicios y Operaciones Mineras del Norte, for US$ 121 million between both companies. .
“Have an appeal for protection filed”, Said a court resolution, which established a period of ten business days to present a report with background information.
“Bearing in mind that the contested act is in full execution, it is agreed not to innovate, paralyzing the lithium bidding and award process, while this appeal is resolved.”, he added.
Last week, opposition deputies had already tried unsuccessfully to paralyze the contest before the justice system, which considered that the appeal was out of time.
Chile, the world’s largest producer of copper, is also the second largest producer of lithium, behind Australia. It has the world’s largest reserves of the metal, with 9.2 million tons according to the US Geological Survey.
The local lithium industry is dominated by SQM Y Albemarle, which have major projects in the Salar de Atacama, where companies use brine pools to extract lithium from under the salar. Both firms were also in the running for the tender, but did not win contracts.
The tender, which was launched unexpectedly in October last year, has been criticized by President-elect Gabriel Boric, who will take office in March and has spoken out in favor of a national lithium company.
The mining ministry said it would not issue a statement on the Copiapó court’s decision for now.
.
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.
