*Chile’s state-owned copper mining company Codelco has announced it has completed the acquisition of Australia’s Lithium Power International (LPI), which owns the Blanco project in the Maricunga salt flat. According to a Codelco statement, the commonwealth foreign investment review board confirmed the Australian government’s lack of objection to the purchase, as well as the transaction’s compliance with the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act of 1975. the federal court of Australia has approved the proposed outline, which stipulates that Codelco subsidiary Salar de Maricunga will acquire 100% of LPI’s shares. Codelco stated that the purchase, which it said totalled A$385m (US$250m) when first announced in October 2023, will make the Blanco project possible – helping develop “exceptional” environmental sustainability and community relations, as well as generating value particularly in the northern Atacama region and neighbouring communities. “With this acquisition, we are fulfilling the development plan of the lithium strategy that will make us one of the leading suppliers of critical minerals worldwide,” said Máximo Pacheco, president of Codelco’s board of directors. “The responsible production of copper and lithium, which the planet needs to enable the energy transition, will be our main contribution to the global fight against climate change.”
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