Codelco and SQM have launched the NovaAndino Litio joint venture (JV), which will manage the exploration, extraction, production, and marketing of lithium in Salar de Atacama, Chile, with activities planned to continue until 2060.
NovaAndino Litio was created through the merger of Codelco’s subsidiary Minera Tarar with SQM’s subsidiary SQM Salar.
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This step completes a public-private partnership and brings together proven operational capabilities and updated governance standards.
The development was reported to the Financial Market Commission (CMF).
Under the new structure, NovaAndino Litio will integrate all assets, subsidiaries, overseas offices, permits, technical expertise, and personnel needed to expand the lithium business.
The consolidation follows SQM’s internal restructuring during 2024 and 2025.
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By GlobalDataThe agreement also ensures operational and contractual continuity in the Atacama Salt Flat, both under existing Corfo agreements and those scheduled to take effect from 2031.
Codelco chairman of the board Máximo Pacheco said: “Codelco is taking a strategic step today to actively participate in lithium production, a key resource for the global energy and digital transition. This partnership with SQM fills us with pride and reflects a new form of public-private collaboration: transparent, professional, and long-term.”
The merger marks the culmination of a partnership agreement signed in May 2024, which was reviewed by more than 20 organisations and institutions in Chile and abroad.
The process also included a comprehensive indigenous consultation led by Corfo.
The board of directors for the JV will include three representatives from Codelco, Máximo Pacheco, Josefina Montenegro, and Alfredo Moreno, and three from SQM, Ricardo Ramos, Hernán Uribe, and Manuel Ovalle.
Under the partnership agreements, SQM has transferred all of its mining concessions in the Maricunga Salt Flat to Codelco.
This transfer reinforces the Chilean State’s standing in this strategic area and helps enable future lithium developments.
