Chile’s critical minerals strategy: project and permitting signals for engineers
Reviewed by Joe Ashwell
First reported on MINING.com
30 Second Briefing
Chile has released a National Critical Minerals Strategy that classifies 14 minerals into three groups, with copper, lithium, molybdenum and rhenium in “category A”, where Chile already supplies 23%, 20.4%, 14.6% and 46.8% of global output respectively. Consultants note category A growth will mainly come from brownfield expansions, while new streams such as cobalt, rare earths, selenium and tellurium will require greenfield social and environmental approvals and stronger state capacity. Lawyers and analysts stress the strategy is not law, lacks concrete near-term production commitments for minerals like cobalt and rare earths, and its impact will hinge on a forthcoming action plan, permitting performance and institutional execution.
Technical Brief
- Fourteen minerals are explicitly listed, including antimony, selenium, tellurium, boron, iodine and rare earth elements.
- Category B minerals (e.g. cobalt, rare earths, antimony) currently have little or no Chilean production base.
- GEM’s Juan Ignacio Guzmán expects category A growth mainly via brownfield expansions within existing social–environmental frameworks.
- Category B developments are expected to require “breaking new ground” in social and environmental permitting, increasing project lead times.
Our Take
Chile’s identification of 14 critical minerals, including copper, lithium, molybdenum and rhenium, positions it as the most diversified single-country critical minerals node in Latin America in our database, contrasting with more single-commodity exposure in Bolivia (lithium) and Peru (copper) highlighted in the 27 January 2026 regional security piece.
With Chile already supplying 23% of global copper and over 20% of global lithium, any policy tightening or new standards emerging from this 30‑day consultation window will likely have immediate pricing and supply-chain implications for the ‘critical minerals’ basket tracked in our recent Top 50 miners valuation coverage.
The inclusion of lesser-discussed elements such as selenium, rhenium, tellurium and iodine in Chile’s framework broadens the policy lens beyond the copper–lithium duo that dominates most of the 31 keyword-matched pieces, signalling that future ESG and permitting rules may start to bite on by-product recovery circuits at existing Chilean operations.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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