Lithium has become an essential tool in addressing the climate crisis, Chilean Mining Minister Marcela Hernando said after signing an agreement with the Consortium of Chilean State Universities (CUECH) to strengthen a state policy for lithium development.
The Ministry of Mines said in a statement released Wednesday that the agreement provides for the placement of skills and scientific talent in the regions to prepare for the future establishment of the National Lithium and Salt Marsh Institute, one of the promises of the current government.
Hernando explained that lithium has become an “important tool to address the climate crisis, which of course is an opportunity for our country.”
“We are currently exporting lithium carbonate, but we need to go further because there are countries ahead of us in converting lithium into inputs that are much more direct in the fight against climate change through electric mobility,” she added.
The official added that there is no better place to explore lithium than the Atacama Desert, the driest desert in the world, located in northern Chile, and the salt flats in the country’s south.
“And there are several regional universities that are doing this in an excellent way,” the minister urged.
For his part, Chile’s Minister of Science, Technology, Knowledge, and Innovation, Flavio Salazar, stressed that lithium is one of Chile’s most important resources for the future, “provided we manage to use it with the complexity it requires, with knowledge, awareness, environmental protection, sustainability and also human development.”
“I believe that the state universities united in CUECH can be important guarantors to provide the necessary knowledge and exchange with other organizations in the country that can collaborate to create a national lithium institute and pursue policies that will allow us to extract knowledge and value from natural resources,” he added.
The agreement signed by both parties will allow the creation of a network of researchers focused on gaining knowledge about lithium and salterns through multidisciplinary work to study and develop this strategic mineral, the Ministry of Mines said.
Likewise, under this agreement, the state universities will advise and assist the Ministry of Mines in promoting a sustainable lithium industry.