About

As the largest lithium producer in the world, SQM (Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile) supplies plant nutrients, iodine, lithium and industrial chemicals. As demand for lithium is expected to double by 2025, expanding its domestic operations is simply not enough, so in 2017 the company has developed partnerships with Kidman Resources for the Mt Holland project in Australia and with Lithium Americas to develop the Cauchari-Olaroz project in Argentina. This comes at a time when the company has also been adding to its existing operations in Northern Chile, with plans in place to boost production by between 15,000 and 63,000 tonnes per year at the Salar de Atacama in Chile and invest around $30m to its Nueva Victoria iodine facility. Such aggressive expansion can, without a doubt, not be completed without an experienced legal team at its core. Led by Gonzalo Aguirre, whose eighteen-year legal career features substantial experience in private financings, capital markets, M&As, energy law and corporate governance, SQM’s team has consistently made an impression with ingenuity, as well as its high work-ethic when supporting key projects. Besides Aguirre, Cristóbal González Ogaz, Ximena Vega and Natalia Serón Möller are all lawyers whose contribution to such projects is highly valued.