[News] Fierce competition and nuclear fusion: Experts affirm that it is increasingly urgent to boost the lithium industry in Chile

[FNX Magokiler]

Chile can become a key supplier to advance in the decarbonization of the world economy. This, not only because it is the world's largest producer of copper or has unique conditions for the production of green hydrogen, but also the potential it has to distribute lithium to the world. This element is concentrated mainly in the arid Andean plateaus between Argentina, Chile and Bolivia, also known as the "Lithium Triangle". Only these three countries take more than a third of the "white gold" that exists on the entire planet

In this sense, the Salar de Atacama steals all eyes, since it is the largest lithium brine deposit, where more than half of the world's reserves are found. In Chile, lithium reserves belong to the State and are mainly exploited by Sociedad Química y Minera (SQM) and the American company Albemarle, who have become the main players in the field. Although the best use that can be given to this chemical element is energy storage - such as in car batteries, telephones and computers - it is also used for pharmaceuticals or air conditioning systems. There is even talk of its importance in "nuclear fusion", a historic advance recently achieved by American scientists and which would allow progress in the generation of clean and potentially inexhaustible energy. However, despite the advantages that the territory presents, Chile is lagging behind in this industry. Argentina, Australia and China lead. Concern that has been manifested for some time among experts, who have urged the Government to take action on the matter. The Executive has been talking for months about promoting a national lithium policy -which includes the creation of a National Lithium Company-, but it seems that no progress is made other than announcements, without taking advantage of the current "boom" that the mineral is experiencing. "This is a clear example where there is the capacity to make the investments, there are the technologies to extract lithium and the interest of investors, but a decision is needed from the authority to point out and set the formula for how it will be done. ", stressed the president of the National Mining Society (Sonami), Jorge Riesco. "It has to be done with legal certainty, calmly and giving the guarantee that the projects will be developed and finished," he added.

 

 

Given the concern that market share is being lost with each passing day, Eduardo Bitran, an academic at the Faculty of Engineering and Sciences of the Adolfo Ibáñez University (UAI) explained that the industry "will grow from 600,000 tons in 2022 to a million three hundred thousand tons by 2027, with which our market share will be less than 20% (...) Chile will go from having been the first producer in the world in 2016 to fourth place in 2027". However, Bitrán argues that in order to recover participation and take advantage of capturing greater economic rents for the State, "a strategy should be developed that allows the production of up to 500,000 tons per year of lithium carbonate equivalent by 2028." "For this, it is necessary to invest in solving the water sustainability problems of the basin. The first priority is to promote the desalination of salt water, to replace the extraction of fresh water from the salt flat. At the same time, progress must be made in the piloting of direct extraction of lithium that reduce water evaporation in the driest area in the world. However, the start of production with these new technologies can be planned for 2027 or 2028," he added. In the same way argued Francisco Rivas, director of Civil Mining Engineering at the University of Talca. "First you have to make the rules clear. A sensation is starting to rise due to statements made in the press that you are creating noise on environmental issues," he said. Secondly, "the legal and business framework around lithium must be clear as soon as possible, the State must advance in the national lithium policy, 2022 has already passed and no decisions have yet been made regarding this policy announced by President Boric in his public account, and we spent another year without advancing concretely on this issue that is relevant to our country". Nuclear fusion A few days ago it was confirmed by American scientists from Lawrence Livermore's laboratory that more energy could be generated from "nuclear fusion" than was used to drive the experiment. In this sense, it would be advancing towards the creation of unlimited power and without carbon emissions. For this, a series of elements is required, including tritium, which is not easy to obtain. The way to generate tritium is from lithium and there arises a new opportunity for Chile

 

https://www.emol.com/noticias/Economia/2022/12/19/1081313/competencia-feroz-litio-fusion-nuclear.html