mine · Chile

Salar de Atacama

The highest-grade and most productive lithium brine resource in the world.

OperatingProductionProject score 90

Operator

SQM

Country

Chile

Mine life

25 yrs

Capex

—

Profile

Resource, economics and jurisdiction

Resource: Very large brine resource with exceptionally high lithium concentration.
Production: Combined output exceeding 200 kt LCE annually across operators.
Economics: Lowest-cost lithium production globally by a wide margin.
Infrastructure: Solar evaporation ponds with chemical plants at Antofagasta and La Negra.
Jurisdiction: Low risk
Ownership: SQM and Albemarle under CORFO leases
Region: Antofagasta Region

Overview

The highest-grade and most productive lithium brine resource in the world.

Methodology

Version v0.1

Resource Quality: 95 (weight 1.2) — Grade, continuity and metallurgical complexity of the resource.
Project Scale: 94 (weight 1) — Annual output potential relative to the global market for its primary mineral.
Development Stage: 92 (weight 0.9) — How far the asset has advanced toward or through production.
Jurisdiction: 98 (weight 1.1) — Political stability, permitting predictability and rule of law.
Infrastructure: 90 (weight 0.9) — Access to power, water, transport and processing capacity.
Economics: 86 (weight 1.2) — Cost position and margin resilience through the price cycle.
Strategic Importance: 96 (weight 1) — Relevance to national critical mineral strategies and allied supply chains.
Supply-Chain Value: 98 (weight 1) — Whether the asset relieves a genuine downstream bottleneck.
Sustainability: 87 (weight 0.9) — Carbon intensity, water use, tailings approach and community standing.
Execution Risk: 86 (weight 1) — Technical, financing and schedule risk to reaching nameplate output. Higher is lower risk.