Chile’s state development agency, CORFO, has selected the Chilean firm Molymet and China’s Fulin Group (a joint venture between Samsung SDI and South Korea’s POSCO) to develop value-added lithium products in Chile. Within two years, the companies are expected to be ready to produce some 58,000 metric tons of cathode materials per year.

This announcement comes as part of Chile’s recent push to diversify its exports. Chile is one of South America’s top three lithium producers, and is home to half the known global supply of the mineral. In the past, Chile simply provided the raw material, which was sent abroad for development into consumer products. However, CORFO is looking to change that, and develop manufacturing of a variety of value-added lithium products in Chile.

Source: Reuters