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Chile to nationalize its lithium industry POLICY |
New mines will be public-private partnerships with state control
Oleg Yakovlev/Adobe Images
How humanity’s conquest of space will depend on mining lunar water MOON MINING
| Off-world H20 becomes oxygen, hydrogen-based fuel
BY HENRY LAZENBY
W
ith an eye to exploring Mars and beyond, space agencies worldwide are
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looking to mining to supply water, fuel and oxygen needed to send astronauts on longer missions. The target? Water on the moon in the form of tiny ice crystals. Sci-
entists see mining for water as a critical enabler of humanity’s pursuit of deep space exploration. Once extracted from a fine, dusty 2-metre surface layer (regolith) on the moon, the water can be split into two valuable commodities in space using simple electrolysis — oxygen to sustain human presence and hydrogen, recombined with oxygen, becoming one of the most potent chemical propellants known to humanity. To get there, scientists want to adapt terrestrial mining methods for use on the moon. The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has contracted the Sudbury, Ont.-based Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI) to help identify Earth-bound Canadian mining assets, capabilities and innovators that could help develop and establish a space mining industry. The goal is to set up lunar infrastructure and a midway space staging area orbiting the moon, from which deep space travel can be explored. According to Dale Boucher, who has been researching space mining technologies for more than two decades and is working with CEMI on the CSA project, mining on the moon will not resemble anything we’re used to on Earth. However, he told an Apr. 13 CEMI-hosted webinar on the emerging space mining economy that the clock is ticking to find suitable mining methods applicable to the moon. With the successful completion of NASA’s Artemis I moon flyby late last year, Canada is set to play an increasingly important role in space exploration and mineral extraction. In 2024, Canada is set See MOON / 9
SQM An aerial view of the brine pools and processing areas of the Soquimich (SQM) lithium mine on the Atacama salt flat 2. SQM BY CECILIA JAMASMIE
C
hile’s President Gabriel Boric announced on Apr. 20 that his government would nationalize the country’s lithium, applying a model in which the state will partner with companies to develop the local industry. The long-awaited policy in the world’s second-largest producer of the battery metal includes the creation of a national lithium company, Boric said on national television. State copper giant Codelco, the world’s No. 1 producer of the metal, will be initially in charge of signing up partners for new contracts. That role will then be undertaken by a dedicated national lithium company, whose mandate will be to develop the industry into a pillar for Chile’s economy while protecting its environment. “This is an opportunity for economic growth that will be difficult to beat in the short term… We can’t afford to waste it,” Boric said. The two lithium miners already operating in Chile, Albemarle (NYSE: ALB) and SQM (NYSE: SQM) will continue to do so until their contracts expire. Without naming them, Boric said he hoped that lithium miners already present in Chile would be open to negotiate state participation before the end of their contracts. The contract for the world’s No. 1 producer, Albemarle, runs out in 2043, while the one for SQM, the second largest globally, ends in 2030. The president noted that future lithium licences will be only issued
VISUALIZING THE STATE OF LITHIUM EXPLORATION IN CANADA — IN CHARTS / 7
as public-private partnerships with state control. Codelco and state miner Enami will be given exploration and extraction contracts in areas where there are now private projects before the national lithium company is formed. In a statement, SQM said it was still analyzing the text of the new See CHILE / 10 PM40069240