Company Insight · Chile · NovaAndino Litio · Codelco · SQM · Salar de Atacama
NovaAndino Litio: Ownership, Production and Governance
NovaAndino Litio is not a new greenfield mine. It is the new corporate structure over an existing Salar de Atacama operation, combining Codelco’s majority state control, SQM’s operating continuity, long-term production targets, Corfo contracts and China-linked supply conditions.
NovaAndino Litio is the Codelco-SQM company that now holds the operating structure for lithium in the Salar de Atacama until 2060.
It was created on 27 December 2025 through the merger of Minera Tarar SpA and SQM Salar SpA. It is not a new mine starting from zero: the company concentrates existing SQM lithium assets, subsidiaries, permits, international offices, technical knowledge and personnel while preserving contractual and operational continuity.
Codelco must retain more than 50% of the company. The board was formed with three representatives from each partner, SQM manages the operation through 2030 and Codelco takes over management from 2031.
For wider context, see Econosur’s Lithium and Mining overview, Codelco company insight, Chile–Argentina lithium analysis and Chile–China analysis.
Core market reading:
NovaAndino Litio is not simply a new lithium producer. It is the corporate structure through which Chile tries to reconcile state control, private operating capability, global battery demand, local legitimacy and long-term production growth in the Salar de Atacama.
Current Status in July 2026
NovaAndino Litio is legally formed and the Codelco-SQM partnership is in effect. Codelco announced the company on 27 December 2025 after the merger of Minera Tarar SpA and SQM Salar SpA. The company’s first board was scheduled to meet two days later.
The operation is still in the first management phase. SQM oversees general management through 2030. Codelco is scheduled to assume management from 2031 through 2060. This means state control and day-to-day operating management are not the same thing during the first period.
The latest confirmed governance change is the resignation of Máximo Pacheco from the NovaAndino board on 25 May 2026 when he left the chairmanship of Codelco. His successor at Codelco is known: President José Antonio Kast appointed economist Bernardo Fontaine as Codelco chairman, effective 26 May 2026.
That does not automatically make Fontaine Pacheco’s successor at NovaAndino. The public sources reviewed for this update establish the Codelco leadership change, but do not identify a replacement for Pacheco’s NovaAndino board seat or confirm a new NovaAndino chair.
Company created: yes, on 27 December 2025.
Existing lithium operation transferred into the structure: yes.
Codelco already managing daily operations: no. SQM manages through 2030.
Future production targets already achieved: no. They remain programme targets.
What Is NovaAndino Litio?
Nova Andino Litio SpA resulted from the merger of Codelco subsidiary Minera Tarar SpA and SQM Salar SpA. Its mandate covers lithium exploration, exploitation, production and commercialisation in the Salar de Atacama until 2060.
The company concentrates the assets, subsidiaries, international offices, permits, technical knowledge and human resources needed for the lithium business following SQM’s internal reorganisation during 2024 and 2025. It also preserves continuity under the existing Corfo contracts and the contracts designed for the period beginning in 2031.
This makes NovaAndino a new company around an established production system. The distinction matters because company formation, mine construction and operating start are three different milestones. NovaAndino did not begin by building a new Salar de Atacama operation from scratch.
Ownership, Board Structure and Control
Chile’s Comptroller approved the agreement with the requirement that Codelco maintain a stake above 50%. This gives the state majority control through Codelco. The founding board, however, was structured with three representatives from Codelco and three from SQM.
Majority ownership, equal board representation and operating management therefore have to be separated:
| Control layer | Current structure | Practical meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Equity control | Codelco must retain more than 50%. | The Chilean state holds majority control through Codelco. |
| Board representation | Three Codelco and three SQM representatives at formation. | Formal board parity requires governance rules beyond a simple seat count. |
| General management to 2030 | SQM oversees management. | Operational continuity remains with the experienced Salar de Atacama operator. |
| General management from 2031 | Codelco assumes management. | The partnership becomes a long-term transfer of operating leadership to the state company. |
The structure is therefore neither a conventional nationalisation nor a normal equal joint venture. It combines majority state ownership with an initial private-management phase and a scheduled transfer of operating leadership.
Public value capture is larger than the ownership headline
The commercial meaning of state participation is not limited to Codelco’s majority stake. When the agreement was finalised in May 2024, SQM chief executive Ricardo Ramos said that 85% of the operating margin would flow to public coffers from 2031.
This percentage should not be confused with NovaAndino’s equity split. It describes expected public value capture through the wider fiscal, contractual and ownership structure. The reviewed primary company pages confirm majority state participation but do not state a precise fixed ownership percentage for each partner, so this analysis retains the more defensible formulation: Codelco must hold more than 50%.
Why Operating Continuity Matters
The most immediate commercial strength of NovaAndino is continuity. SQM contributes the operating system already present in the Salar de Atacama: personnel, processes, permits, logistics, technical knowledge, customer relationships and international commercial infrastructure.
Codelco contributes the state mandate, majority control and the long-term management role. The partnership avoids forcing Codelco to assume a complex lithium operation immediately while giving the company a transition period through 2030.
The main institutional test is whether operating knowledge can be transferred without weakening performance. The 2031 change is not just a boardroom event. It requires management systems, technical teams, supplier relationships, data, operating procedures and commercial capabilities to move into a Codelco-led structure.
NovaAndino is not a mine opening. It is a controlled transfer of ownership, operating knowledge and future management over an existing strategic production system.
Production Programme: Targets Are Not Current Output
The official partnership site sets two production objectives. For 2025–2030, it projects 300,000 tonnes of additional lithium carbonate equivalent across the period. For 2031–2060, it targets annual production of 280,000–300,000 tonnes of LCE.
These figures are programme targets. The 2025–2030 figure covers a transition period that began before NovaAndino was formally created at the end of December 2025. It should not be presented as historical production by the new company since formation.
The 2031–2060 figure is an annual target for the future Codelco-managed phase. It depends on permits, technology, operating performance and the ability to deliver the environmental commitments built into the agreement.
The Environmental Promise Behind the Production Plan
The partnership states that higher production should come from process efficiency, new technologies and operating optimisation without increasing brine extraction or inland-water use. This is a central company commitment, not a result that can be assumed in advance.
The future operating model therefore has to prove three things simultaneously: greater output, no increase in the stated extraction pressures and credible monitoring of salar ecosystems and communities.
This creates long-term demand for measurement, water and brine monitoring, process control, automation, environmental data systems and transparent reporting. The most relevant suppliers will be those that can connect production efficiency with verifiable environmental performance.
China’s Approval Conditions
China’s State Administration for Market Regulation gave conditional approval in November 2025. The approval was the last major international antitrust hurdle before completion of the partnership.
The conditions went beyond a simple merger clearance. Codelco and SQM were required to maintain minimum supply to Chinese customers on fair terms, apply confidential pricing conditions linked to market benchmarks, avoid unjustified refusal or delay of supply and follow restrictions on information sharing and corporate governance. The remedies are subject to approximately ten years of regulatory supervision.
NovaAndino is therefore embedded in Chinese battery-supply security from the start. China is not only a destination market. Its regulator imposed commercial conditions affecting supply continuity and customer treatment.
NovaAndino is a Chilean state-control project operating inside a lithium market where China can attach supply conditions to corporate approval.
Governance, Audit and the May 2026 Board Change
Chile’s Comptroller approved the agreement on 19 December 2025 while also announcing an audit in response to complaints from members of parliament. The criticism focused on direct negotiation rather than public bidding and on the selection of SQM as the partner.
The approval and audit must not be confused. The deal received approval and the company was subsequently formed. The audit represents continuing scrutiny of the process rather than proof that NovaAndino lacks legal existence.
Máximo Pacheco was named among Codelco’s three founding board representatives and initially chaired NovaAndino. He resigned from the board on 25 May 2026 when leaving the Codelco chairmanship.
The political context is material. President José Antonio Kast appointed Bernardo Fontaine to lead Codelco from 26 May 2026 as part of a broader reset of the state miner’s board and operating oversight. Pacheco’s resignation letter was directed to Fontaine. This confirms a political leadership transition at Codelco during NovaAndino’s first operating year.
The positions must still be separated. Fontaine is the confirmed successor at Codelco. The public sources reviewed for this update do not establish that he also took Pacheco’s NovaAndino board seat or became NovaAndino chair.
The merger was completed, NovaAndino was formed and the Salar de Atacama operation continues inside the new company.
The audit, Pacheco’s resignation and Fontaine’s appointment by the new Kast administration show that NovaAndino’s governance environment is tied directly to political leadership at Codelco.
The hardest institutional step is the transfer of general management from SQM to Codelco without losing operating capability.
What NovaAndino Means for Suppliers
The supplier market is shaped by two operating periods. Until 2030, procurement and technical qualification sit inside an SQM-managed system. From 2031, Codelco is scheduled to assume management, potentially changing decision routes, supplier expectations and public-sector governance requirements.
The strongest long-term needs are tied to the company’s central operating promise:
- process optimisation and recovery improvements
- brine and inland-water monitoring
- automation, sensors and production-control systems
- energy efficiency and reliable utility systems
- maintenance, critical spares and equipment renewal
- environmental data, ecosystem monitoring and transparent reporting
- safety, operating and training documentation
- audit-ready technical and governance workflows
For international companies, the key question is not merely whether Chile needs the technology. It is who controls the relevant technical package during each management phase, how suppliers enter the qualification process and whether local service and documentation requirements can be met.
NovaAndino is an operating-company transition rather than a speculative greenfield lithium announcement. The commercial structure therefore changes in stages rather than beginning with a single new-project procurement cycle.
Until 2030, suppliers need to understand an SQM-managed operating system. The 2031 handover introduces a second layer: which supplier relationships, qualification systems, technical standards and commercial responsibilities transfer into Codelco-led management, and which are redesigned.
China-linked supply conditions add a separate commercial constraint because future production and customer decisions sit inside commitments that go beyond Chilean ownership and governance.
Three Business Questions for Suppliers and Lithium Buyers
Which supplier opportunities could emerge as NovaAndino expands lithium production in the Salar de Atacama?
The strongest opportunities are tied to NovaAndino’s operating promise: increase lithium output through efficiency, technology and optimisation without increasing the extraction pressures identified in the agreement. That points toward process optimisation, recovery improvements, brine and inland-water monitoring, automation, sensors, energy efficiency, maintenance, environmental data systems and other technologies that can connect higher output with measurable operating and environmental performance.
These are structural demand areas rather than proof that a specific tender is currently open. The commercial task is to identify which requirements have become funded procurement packages, which remain inside existing SQM supplier relationships and which may emerge as the 2031 management transfer approaches.
Who will actually control procurement and supplier decisions before and after the 2031 management transfer?
Until 2030, general management remains with SQM. Procurement, technical qualification and operating standards during this phase therefore sit inside an SQM-managed system even though Codelco holds majority state control. Ownership and day-to-day procurement authority are not the same thing.
From 2031, Codelco is scheduled to assume general management. That creates a transition question rather than an automatic procurement reset: which supplier contracts, approved-vendor systems, technical specifications, commercial teams and decision rights transfer from SQM, and which are restructured under Codelco-led management. Suppliers need to know the practical decision route for the package they are pursuing, not only the shareholder structure.
What should suppliers and lithium buyers verify as NovaAndino moves toward the 2031 operating model?
Published sources establish the ownership structure, management phases, production programme, environmental commitments and China-linked approval conditions. They do not normally reveal the current approved-vendor list, active procurement packages, incumbent suppliers, buyer priorities, qualification windows, local service requirements, contract renewal timing or the exact commercial responsibilities that will transfer to Codelco.
Suppliers and buyers therefore need to verify current procurement responsibility, supplier qualification routes, incumbent relationships, investment timing, technical and environmental requirements, local operating support, the transfer of commercial systems from SQM to Codelco and the practical effect of China-linked supply and pricing conditions.
Public sources can establish NovaAndino’s ownership, governance, production targets, management timetable and regulatory commitments. They usually do not show live procurement status, current buyer priorities, supplier relationships, qualification decisions, commercial terms or which opportunities are realistically addressable by a specific supplier.
Econosur investigates these questions through targeted company, supplier, procurement and primary market research.
NovaAndino Company, Supplier and Lithium Market Research
Research can be scoped around a specific supplier, technology, procurement question, buyer relationship or operating transition rather than around the full Chilean lithium market.
This company insight distinguishes company formation, existing operating continuity, majority ownership, board representation, management responsibility and future production targets.
- Codelco — Formation of NovaAndino Litio, 27 December 2025: merger, company mandate, majority state participation, transferred assets, operating continuity and founding board.
- Codelco-SQM partnership site: SQM management through 2030, Codelco management from 2031, production programme and environmental commitments.
- Reuters — China’s conditional approval: minimum supply, pricing, continuity, information-sharing and governance conditions.
- Reuters — Chile Comptroller approval and audit: approval of the agreement, requirement that Codelco retain more than 50% and continuing institutional scrutiny.
- Reuters — Máximo Pacheco resignation, 25 May 2026: resignation from NovaAndino and end of his Codelco chairmanship.
- Reuters — Bernardo Fontaine appointed Codelco chairman: President José Antonio Kast’s appointment and the wider Codelco leadership reset.
- Reuters — Codelco-SQM agreement, 31 May 2024: majority state control, management transfer, production targets and the statement that 85% of operating margin would flow to public coffers from 2031.
- Source limitation: Fontaine is the confirmed successor at Codelco. The reviewed public sources do not identify Pacheco’s replacement on the NovaAndino board or a new NovaAndino chair.
- Econosur analysis updated 13 July 2026.
- Which NovaAndino supplier categories are likely to see new demand before 2031?
- Which procurement decisions remain inside SQM-managed systems, and which already involve Codelco?
- Who are the incumbent suppliers for a specific technology or service category?
- What qualification, local-service and documentation requirements apply to a new supplier?
- Which operating and investment plans have moved from public targets into actual procurement activity?
- How could the 2031 management transfer affect supplier contracts, approved-vendor systems and decision responsibility?
- How do China-linked supply and pricing conditions affect future commercial flexibility?
- Which technologies are most relevant to increasing output through efficiency rather than greater extraction pressure?
Need to understand where NovaAndino’s commercial decisions are actually made?
NovaAndino combines an existing SQM operating system, Codelco majority control, a scheduled 2031 management transfer, long-term production targets and China-linked commercial conditions.
Econosur can research the supplier landscape, procurement responsibility, qualification routes, incumbent relationships and operating-transition questions that published company information does not resolve.
Explore Company ReportsFAQ
What is NovaAndino Litio?
NovaAndino Litio is the public-private lithium vehicle created by Codelco and SQM for lithium exploration, production and commercialization in the Salar de Atacama until 2060.
Why does NovaAndino Litio matter for Chile?
NovaAndino Litio matters because it turns Chile’s lithium strategy into an operating structure. It combines Codelco’s state role, SQM’s Salar de Atacama operating experience, Corfo contract continuity and long-term lithium production governance.
What is the Codelco-SQM management structure?
The Codelco-SQM partnership is structured in two phases: SQM manages the operation until 2030, while Codelco takes over management from 2031 to 2060.
What are the production targets?
The official Codelco-SQM partnership site projects an additional 300,000 tons of lithium carbonate equivalent from 2025 to 2030 and annual production of 280,000 to 300,000 tons of LCE from 2031 to 2060.
Why is China relevant to NovaAndino Litio?
China’s antitrust approval included minimum-supply, pricing, continuity, information-sharing and governance conditions affecting Chinese lithium carbonate customers.
Is NovaAndino Litio a new lithium mine?
No. NovaAndino is a new corporate and governance structure around an existing Salar de Atacama operation. It concentrates SQM assets, permits, technical knowledge, offices and personnel while preserving operational continuity.
Who controls NovaAndino Litio?
Codelco must retain more than 50% of the company, giving the Chilean state majority control. The founding board had three representatives from Codelco and three from SQM. SQM manages through 2030 and Codelco takes over management from 2031.
What changed in the board in May 2026?
Máximo Pacheco resigned from the NovaAndino board on 25 May 2026 when leaving the chairmanship of Codelco. President José Antonio Kast appointed Bernardo Fontaine as the new Codelco chairman from 26 May. The reviewed public sources do not establish that Fontaine also replaced Pacheco on the NovaAndino board.
How much operating margin is expected to reach the Chilean state?
SQM chief executive Ricardo Ramos stated that 85% of operating margin is expected to flow to public coffers from 2031. This is an estimate of public value capture under the wider fiscal, contractual and ownership structure, not the same thing as the company’s equity percentage.
What is the main risk for NovaAndino Litio?
The main risk is execution under scrutiny: higher lithium output, environmental limits, indigenous consultation, board stability, political legitimacy, China-linked supply exposure and the management transition from SQM to Codelco after 2030.
Which supplier opportunities could emerge as NovaAndino expands lithium production?
The strongest structural opportunities are tied to process optimisation, recovery improvements, brine and inland-water monitoring, automation, energy efficiency, maintenance and environmental data systems. Public information does not establish that every category currently has an open tender.
Who controls procurement before and after the 2031 management transfer?
SQM manages operations through 2030, so procurement and technical qualification during the first phase remain embedded in an SQM-managed system. Codelco is scheduled to take over general management from 2031, which may change decision routes and supplier requirements.
What should suppliers verify before pursuing NovaAndino business?
Suppliers should verify current procurement responsibility, qualification routes, incumbent suppliers, local service requirements, actual investment and tender timing, technical and environmental requirements, and which commercial systems are expected to transfer from SQM to Codelco.
