https://www.miningweekly.com

Chile says lithium miner Albemarle slow to respond on contract details

31st July 2018

By: Reuters

  

Font size: - +

SANTIAGO – Chile's government said on Monday that lithium miner Albemarle had been slow to respond to the government's requests for information about a contract the US-based miner signed with the South American country in 2016.

The contract allows Albemarle to produce lithium on land owned by the Chilean government. It requires the company to offer up to 25% of its annual production capacity at a discounted price to companies chosen by the government to produce cathode, a critical component of lithium batteries, inside Chile.

Sebastian Sichel, head of Corfo, the government agency that oversees mining concessions in the lithium-rich Salar de Atacama, told reporters on Monday that Albemarle had yet to provide Corfo with the information it needs to determine how much of a discount to apply to the lithium.

"We are waiting for the company to resolve these pending issues," Sichel said. "For now, what we have is slowness in decision-making on the part of the company."

Albemarle, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, declined to comment.

Local daily La Tercera reported on Sunday that Corfo had raised concerns that the slow response from Albemarle could turn off the three companies seeking to produce cathode in Chile using the discounted lithium.

Corfo said in March that Chile's Molymet, China's Sichuan Fulin Industrial Group and a joint venture between Samsung SDI and South Korea's POSCO, would begin to produce about 58 000 t/y of cathode by 2020, for a total investment of $754-million.

La Tercera reported that Corfo's legal team was reviewing the situation to assure the company was complying with its contract with the government.

The Atacama salt flat where Albemarle and Chilean competitor operate is part of the so-called "lithium triangle" in Argentina, Bolivia and Chile, a region containing a large portion of the world's lithium reserves.

Investment and output have increased with demand for electric vehicles.

Edited by Reuters

Comments

Showroom

SBS Tanks
SBS Tanks

SBS® Tanks is a leading provider of innovative water security solutions with offices in Southern Africa, East and West Africa, the USA and an...

VISIT SHOWROOM 
Werner South Africa Pumps & Equipment (PTY) LTD
Werner South Africa Pumps & Equipment (PTY) LTD

For over 30 years, Werner South Africa Pumps & Equipment (PTY) LTD has been designing, manufacturing, supplying and maintaining specialist...

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Hyphen, Eva mine, ferrochrome price make headlines
Hyphen, Eva mine, ferrochrome price make headlines
27th March 2024
Resources Watch
Resources Watch
27th March 2024

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.086 0.118s - 88pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now