The Messenger of Chile reported on January 21 that Ensorcia, a US company, invested $220 million in the exploitation and production of lithium in the Aguilar Salt Lake in the third largest region (Atacama) in the fourth quarter of this year in cooperation with Enami.

Unlike the traditional lithium extraction technology in solar evaporation pools, Ensorcia will adopt a technology called MU, in which mobile devices are installed near Salt Lakes to extract lithium mixtures and then inject lake water and other minerals back into salt lakes. This technology has been successfully tested in the United States and is expected to be commercialized in Chile.

Ensorcia has negotiated cooperation with the Chilean government since 2016 and has reached an agreement, with Enami holding 10% of the shares. The project plan is divided into two stages: the initial stage is to produce 40% lithium chloride and 90% brine is injected back into the salt lake; the second stage will produce 99.9% battery-grade lithium carbonate. Ensorcia said that the first stage of investment comes from the company’s own funds, and the second stage will be financing from banks, which are currently in talks with several Chilean and foreign banks.