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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Outgoing Chilean President Pushes for Last-Minute Lithium Sales |
| 2022-02-05 |
| [Breitbart] Chileans on Friday protested against outgoing president Sebastián Piñera’s attempt to push through a last-minute lithium mining contract before leftist president Gabriel Boric takes office in two months, and possibly nationalizes the lithium industry. Chile was the world’s leading producer of lithium until 2016, when it lost its crown to Australia, and on current trendlines it could fall behind several other countries. Piñera told reporters Friday that pushing through a tender for lithium extraction was the best “strategic plan” for revitalizing the stagnant domestic industry. “We have two options: either we leave lithium in the ground or we use lithium for the benefit of all Chileans,” he said. Piñera’s administration pointed out the proffered 29-year contract would only cover four percent of Chile’s huge reserves, which account for over half of the world’s known lithium deposits. Chile produced 37 percent of the world’s lithium in 2016, but is down to 32 percent today, and will bottom out at 17 percent by 2030 according to current projections – even as the worldwide demand for lithium surges because it is a vital component of electric car batteries. Boric apparently intends to create a “national lithium company” to take over the industry, much as Chilean Marxists once nationalized copper mining. Which will inevitably lead to a lithium shortage. |
| Posted by:Skidmark |