From copper to selenium: Chile maps critical minerals

[Ben Graham]

Chile has published its National Critical Minerals Strategy, a plan to position the country as a reliable supplier amid surging global demand driven by artificial intelligence, new technologies and the energy transition.

Unveiled in the final weeks of President Gabriel Boric’s term, the strategy signals a shift beyond the country’s traditional reliance on copper toward a broader mix of resources aligned with a decarbonizing global economy. 

The framework identifies 14 critical minerals: copper, lithium, molybdenum, rhenium, cobalt, rare earth elements, antimony, selenium, tellurium, gold, silver, iron ore, boron and iodine.

Chile has grouped this minerals based on its current position in global markets. Copper, lithium, molybdenum and rhenium form the first group, where Chile already holds strong shares of global supply at 23%, 20.4%, 14.6% and 46.8%, respectively, and where other major economies also classify the minerals as critical. 

A second group covers minerals with no current production or only potential participation, including cobalt, rare earth elements, antimony, selenium and tellurium. 

A third group includes minerals already extracted domestically that offer opportunities to deepen Chile’s role in global value chains, such as gold, silver, iron ore, boron and iodine.

Industry verdict

Juan Ignacio Guzmán, head of Santiago-based mineral consulting firm GEM, said the way the strategy defines critical minerals reflects a balance between economic priorities and broader social expectations. “Overall, the strategy reflects a good balance between Chile’s economic interests and legitimate environmental and social concerns, precisely in how it defines which minerals should be considered critical,” he said, adding that the challenges will vary sharply by category.

According to Guzmán, category A minerals, where Chile is already a major producer, are largely associated with brownfield developments. “These are mines that are already established, and where there is a well-structured social and environmental framework that has developed over time,” he said. “That part is more straightforward.” The more complex test, he said, will come from category B minerals, where Chile has little or no production today. “In those cases, it basically requires breaking new ground socially and environmentally, and that is where the role of the State is most critical.”

Other analysts were more sceptical about the strategy’s practical impact. José Cabello, director of Mineralium Consulting Group, said the document does little to signal a near-term increase in production. “There is nothing new in the wording of the strategy that would imply a definitive boost to Chile’s production of critical minerals,” he told MINING.COM.

Cabello said that while the strategy outlines ambitions, it stops short of committing to concrete action. “Although it is not explicitly stated in the text, the strategy lacks a decision to bring new critical mineral projects into production at an early stage in Chile, such as cobalt, tungsten or rare earths,” he said. “Practical short-term production proposals are notably absent.”

He attributed that gap to institutional weaknesses rather than geology. “This major shortcoming in a mining country is due to the fact that the current authorities of the state mining agencies lack direct experience in the mining industry,” Cabello said, adding that this “reflects an inability to resolve basic, concrete problems.” He said the issue is visible in the document itself, “where commonplaces prevail and there are even several unnecessary repetitions.”

Mirco Hilgers, partner in energy, mining and infrastructure and head of the environmental practice at Baker & McKenzie, in Santiago, said the strategy marks a new phase in Chile’s mining history by expanding its ambition beyond copper. He said it elevates resources such as lithium, cobalt and rare earth elements into the country’s official policy framework, positioning Chile as a key player in the global energy transition.

The document defines critical minerals as those essential to priorities including the energy transition, food security, defence and resilient supply chains. For mining countries like Chile, it also ties the designation to economic growth, local value creation, diversification and research and development.

Reliable partner 

The strategy seeks to reinforce Chile’s image as a diversified and responsible supplier by promoting value-added industries and strengthening international partnerships. Hilgers said the approach rests on both political and legal foundations, pointing to laws on citizen participation and public administration that embed transparency and inclusion. He added that the 30-day public consultation is central to the strategy’s credibility and designed to build public trust into resource policy.

Mining Minister Aurora Williams, Economy and Energy Minister Álvaro García, Corfo Vice President José Miguel Benavente and industry representatives attended the presentation of the plan. Boric said it sets out coordinated and gradual public action to boost competitiveness, develop value chains and build resilience across the mining sector.

Guzmán said the most difficult challenge will not be technical but political and social. “The main difficulty will be generating the conditions for companies to regain trust in the system and for real changes to occur,” he said. “This will require managing the political capital that exists to effectively convince society of the need to implement this strategy.” He added that, even with broad stakeholder agreement, the next step is public persuasion. “It is extremely important to convince society of the role Chile must play in the world’s critical minerals, as well as of the challenges and requirements we will face.”

Hilgers described the strategy as a geopolitical signal at a time when the United States, Europe and Asia have elevated critical mineral supply security to matters of national strategy. By articulating its own vision, he said, Chile places itself at the centre of the debate and could unlock access to financing, technology transfer and new industrial ecosystems. He cautioned that success will depend on execution, with water stress, community expectations and permitting delays remaining structural challenges.

Years in the making

The strategy emerged from a multi-year participatory process combining technical analysis and stakeholder engagement, including studies by the state copper commission, Cochilco, and mining regulator, Sernageomin. It also includes work funded by the Inter-American Development Bank between 2024 and 2025. A high-level advisory committee of 16 representatives, a technical committee of 120 specialists from 56 institutions, regional workshops and public consultation all fed into the final document.

Despite the hurdles, Hilgers said the potential upside is significant. Copper will remain the backbone of the sector, he said, but developing a wider set of critical minerals could redraw Chile’s industrial map and mark the start of a broader industrial reinvention.

---

Latin America is heading into 2026 with resources at the center of a growing global power struggle, as governments and investors focus on who controls critical minerals and the supply chains behind them. If the region matters to you, don’t miss MINING.COM’s new series tracking the geopolitical forces reshaping it and why markets are increasingly driven by global alliances as much as local politics.