Last Thursday night, in a televised address to the nation,
Chile's president, Gabriel Boric announced his government's
new lithium strategy. The announcement, which had been expected for
months, confirmed the state-led approach to lithium exploitation
that was promised by Boric during the 2021 election campaign.
The new policy has been widely characterized as the
"nationalization" of lithium and, in his speech, Boric
indeed invoked expropriations that occurred in Chile's copper
industry in 1971. However, it must be remembered that, as a result
of policy paralysis, Chile has been effectively closed to new
private investment in lithium for decades, with only two private
producers holding longstanding leases, and all other would-be
players left waiting. Now, with Thursday's long-awaited
announcement, Chile has at last created a defined pathway for some
new private participation in the industry. Therefore, the new
policy will, in fact, create important opportunities for
