South Korean Government and Companies Visit Chile to Discuss Cooperation on Critical Mineral Supply Chains Including Lithium

On the 15th (local time), the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy held the 5th Korea-Chile Resource Cooperation Committee with the Chilean Ministry of Mining in Santiago, Chile, and discussed ways to strengthen cooperation in the supply chain of key minerals such as lithium between the two countries.

Chile, holding the world's largest lithium reserves of 9.3 million tons (33.2%), holds significant importance in strengthening South Korea's lithium supply chain. Currently, domestic companies such as LG Energy Solution and Samsung SDI import lithium carbonate from Chile. Since announcing its "National Lithium Strategy" last April, Chile has been promoting lithium development and production under state leadership.

Atacama Salt Flat Lithium Project Site in Chile
[Image Source=Yonhap News]

At this Resource Cooperation Committee, the two countries shared strategies on key minerals and laid the foundation for Korean companies' entry into Chile through cooperation in developing recycling technologies to extract key minerals from Chilean tailings and applying Korea's excellent eco-friendly lithium extraction technologies, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy explained.

Taking advantage of this Resource Cooperation Committee, a Korea-Chile private sector key minerals cooperation symposium was also held, bringing together Korean companies such as LX International and POSCO Holdings and Chilean key mineral companies such as SQM and ENAMI. At the symposium, companies from both countries discussed various cooperation plans including lithium development, trade, and technology development, creating an opportunity to build close networks among related companies.

Yoon Chang-hyun, Director General of the Resource Industry Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the chief representative of the Korean delegation, visited the Chilean Minister of Mining and conveyed domestic companies' interests, including Chile's lithium salt lake development bidding process (Request for Information, RFI) ongoing until June this year, and discussed ways to strengthen the supply chain of key minerals between the two countries.

Director General Yoon Chang-hyun stated, "With the holding of the 5th Korea-Chile Resource Cooperation Committee, cooperation in the supply chain of key minerals with Chile has been activated," and added, "We will continue to strengthen resource cooperation with Chile in various ways to ensure stable supply of key minerals such as lithium."