Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO,NYSE:RIO,LSE:RIO)said on Monday (May 19) that it has signed binding agreements with Corporación Nacional Del Cobre de Chile (Codelco) to develop and operate a high-grade lithium project. The asset is located in the Salar de Maricunga, a large lithium-containing resource base in Atacama, Chile. Its brine is said to have one of the highest average grades of lithium content in the world. According to Rio Tinto, it will acquire a 49.99 percent interest in the company Salar de Maricunga, through which Codelco holds its licenses and mining concessions related to the resource base. Codelco is a state-owned firm formed in 1976. Its full name translates to “National Copper Corporation of Chile.” “We are honoured to be chosen as Codelco’s partner to deliver a world-class project using Direct Lithium Extraction technology in the Salar de Maricunga, leveraging our expertise as a leading producer of lithium for the global market,”…
