Budget soaring to 3 billion US dollars! Chile's two mining giants are gambling on DLE technology, Atacama becoming the "experiment field" for the global lithium industry.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A. Sponsored ADR Pfd Series B (SQM.US) and Chile's state-owned copper company, Codelco, are planning to allocate a budget of 3 billion dollars for deploying new extraction technology in their lithium joint venture located in the Atacama Desert. The environmental manager of the joint venture Novandino Litio, Julio Garcia, stated that after completing the project design work for a more direct method of lithium extraction from underground saltwater in the Atacama salt flats in northern Chile, the partners have set new forecasts. The joint venture plans to submit an environmental impact study report to regulatory agencies in June. After years of testing, Novandino is moving forward with the commercial operation of what is known in the industry as Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) technology. These technologies are promoted as cleaner and faster than traditional evaporation methods, where large amounts of saltwater are evaporated in one of the driest places on earth, raising concerns about microbial ecosystems. However, the commercial success of direct extraction technology on a large scale has yet to be fully proven. The Atacama Desert is a high-risk testing ground: if direct lithium extraction technology proves successful there, it could help reduce the application risks of the technology globally. A key aspect of the new process is "re-injection," where the depleted lithium-poor saltwater is returned to the salt flats to maintain hydrological and geochemical balance. Garcia, interviewed in Novandino's office in Santiago, stated, "This will be subject to strict monitoring to ensure not only that it delivers on its promised recovery rate, but that it does not have any type of impact." The company has completed years of testing and engineering work on the technology, aimed at expanding production to meet the demand for electric vehicles and large-scale battery storage while reducing environmental impact. The method combines nanofiltration and mechanical evaporation, as well as other technologies already in use at its refining plant. According to Garcia, assuming the necessary environmental and other permits are obtained, the project, known as "Future Salt Flat" (Salar Futuro), will begin construction by the end of this decade (late 2020s) and be fully implemented by the mid-2030s. Novandino has not made a final investment decision yet. Previously, their guidance on the project cost was over 20 billion dollars. The project will gradually replace part of the traditional evaporation systems, while retaining some salt flats for potassium fertilizer production and pre-concentration. Freshwater extraction will eventually cease. Novandino was established at the end of last year, after lithium supplier SQM agreed to transfer the majority of its saltwater assets in Chile to the state-owned Codelco in exchange for an extension of the operating period.