Chile’s Embattled Lithium King
SQM’s new state partnership faces growing scrutiny amid rising global competition for one of the world’s most critical minerals.
This article is adapted from AQ's special report on COP30 SANTIAGO—The half-century arc of SQM reads like a tale of modern Chile. Self-proclaimed heir to a bygone saltpeter boom in the Atacama Desert, the mining company has evolved from state control to privatization, from political controversy to corporate savvy, from insular vision to global reach. Today, the trajectory of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (SQM)—the world’s second-biggest lithium miner — is intertwined with Chile’s stop-and-start campaign to mine more of the critical mineral used in batteries for...
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