en.Wedoany.com Reported - Codelco (Chile's National Copper Corporation) has submitted a project plan to Chile's Environmental Impact Assessment System titled "Lithium Exploration and Brine Re-injection Testing at the Pedernales Salt Flat," with an investment of $12 million, aimed at evaluating the resource potential of the salt flat within its mining concession in the municipality of Diego de Almagro, Atacama Region.
The project is exploratory in nature and does not involve mining operations or the construction of lithium carbonate or lithium hydroxide production plants. Activities include drilling, pumping tests, brine re-injection, and monitoring, with the goal of obtaining technical information on the geological and hydrogeological behavior of the salt flat to support decision-making for potential future projects.
According to the submitted Environmental Impact Statement, the plan involves drilling 114 exploration wells, specifically divided into 43 observation wells, 9 exploration wells, 21 pumping wells, 8 re-injection wells, and 33 monitoring wells. The entire plan is divided into three exploration campaigns, with an estimated operational duration of approximately 83 months. Codelco aims to fully characterize the salt flat before making any development decisions. This phase is critical in brine lithium projects, as aquifer information, chemical composition, hydrogeological connectivity, and pumping or re-injection behavior will directly determine technical and environmental feasibility.
Brine re-injection is one of the core elements of the project, designed to test the technical, environmental, and economic feasibility of returning fluids to the system after experimental extraction. In an industry characterized by water use and regulatory pressure, this information is decisive for subsequent production models.
The Pedernales Salt Flat is a strategic asset for Codelco. According to the company's publicly available technical information, the salt flat is located in the Atacama mountain range, approximately 40 kilometers east of El Salvador, at an altitude of 3,370 meters, covering an area of 466 square kilometers, with a basin area of 3,592 square kilometers. The basin includes water-related ecosystems such as wetlands and water meadows, and high environmental standards require the establishment of robust baseline data beforehand.
This initiative complements Codelco's two other major lithium ventures. In the Atacama Salt Flat, Codelco has formed a joint venture, Nova Andino Litio, with SQM (Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile); in the Maricunga Salt Flat, the company selected Rio Tinto as a strategic partner, with Rio Tinto holding 49.99% of the project company and Codelco holding 50.01%. In contrast, the Pedernales project is at an earlier stage, with no partners or production capacity yet determined, and its primary value lies in acquiring geological and hydrogeological information to reduce uncertainty.
Compared to the investments required for commercial lithium operations, the $12 million amount is limited, but the signal is significant. Submitting the environmental assessment indicates that the state strategy is not limited to extracting value from mature assets but is building a portfolio of options. For the Atacama Region, this exploration phase may have impacts on areas such as specialized employment and drilling services, but it should not be confused with new production operations or large-scale investments.
In terms of environment and communities, Chile's Environmental Assessment Service (SEA) issued a consolidated request report for clarification, correction, or supplementation in June 2026, requiring Codelco to submit supplementary documents with technical responses. Issues of concern include the human environment, cartography, indigenous communities, and the area of influence. The next milestones will be Codelco's response to environmental comments and progress in the project's rating. If the plan is approved, the state-owned company will launch a long-term activity to measure the true potential of the Pedernales Salt Flat.
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