Chile’s ENAMI says lithium venture with Rio Tinto to start production in 2032

Chile’s state-run mining firm ENAMI aims for its new Rio Tinto lithium partnership at Altoandinos to begin production in 2032 with 35,000 metric tons of the battery metal per year, and ramp up over three years to 75,000 tons, ENAMI company chief Ivan Mlynarz said on Friday.

The Altoandinos project, as well as the Maricunga project that Rio Tinto was tapped this week to spearhead alongside state-run copper producer Codelco, will give the global miner a critical role in Chile’s lithium industry alongside long-established players SQM and Albemarle.

Rio Tinto will initially put forward $425 million to the project, which ENAMI said will require a total investment of $3 billion.

ENAMI previously estimated the Altoandinos project capacity to be 60,000 tons a year, before new studies showed more resources than expected, particularly at the La Isla salt flat.

Mlynarz said ENAMI plans for the project to start with direct lithium extraction (DLE), an innovative method that has yet to be used in Chile, and that Rio Tinto is testing at its Rincon project in Argentina.

ENAMI has begun testing DLE options from various companies, and Mlynarz said early results from Rio Tinto’s technology look promising, paving the way for its potential use on the project.

“The results have been encouraging with Rio Tinto, and it has the advantage of having the operator use their own technology,” Mlynarz said.

He added that the partnership needed approval from international regulatory agencies, but that ENAMI in the meantime would continue exploration studies, with the hope that Rio Tinto will take the lead in 2026.

“We need to keep working in the salt flat because both ENAMI and Rio Tinto know that timing is key,” Mlynarz said.