* Chile’s state-owned copper mining company, Codelco, has announced the creation of two new subsidiaries to explore and exploit lithium, in line with the plan announced in April by the leftist government led by President Gabriel Boric to bring the lithium industry under state control. According to a Codelco press release, one of the new subsidiaries, Salares de Chile SpA, would operate its lithium activities while the other, Minera Tarar SpA, would focus exclusively on the Salar de Atacama salt flats, including possible partnerships with private companies which currently operate there, Sociedad Quimica Y Minera de Chile (SQM) and Albemarle. In April the Boric government had instructed Codelco to begin talks with SQM and Albemarle. Máximo Pachecho, the current chair of Codelco’s board of directors, has been named president of both new subsidiaries.