Based on its current position in the global market, Chile has classified these 14 minerals into three categories. The first category includes copper, lithium, molybdenum, and rhenium, which account for 23%, 20.4%, 14.6%, and 46.8% of global supply respectively, and these minerals are also listed as critical by other major economies. The second category consists of minerals that are not currently produced or only produced in small quantities, including cobalt, rare earths, antimony, selenium, and tellurium. The third category covers minerals already produced domestically in Chile with the potential to expand their role in the global value chain, such as gold, silver, iron ore, boron, and iodine.

 

Some analysts believe that driven by artificial intelligence, new technologies, and the energy transition, global demand for these minerals is rising. Chile announced the strategy just weeks before President Boric leaves office, marking its intention to gradually shift from over-reliance on copper to a resource-diversified nation adapted to the development of a decarbonized economy.