Rare earths, manganese, rhenium, titanium: the Chilean strategy

La Moneda, Santiago — The Chilean government has officially formed the High-Level Advisory Committee to draft the country’s National Strategy for Critical Minerals. The committee, comprising 16 members, held its inaugural session on Thursday in the Montt Varas Hall of La Moneda Palace. The goal: to lay out a long-term roadmap that will position Chile as a strategic and reliable global player in the energy transition.

The committee is made up of five government representatives, led by Minister of Mining Aurora Williams and Minister of Finance Mario Marcel. Also participating are Foreign Affairs Minister Alberto Van Klaveren (with Deputy Minister Claudia Sanhueza as his alternate), Economy Minister Nicolás Grau, and CORFO’s Executive Vice President José Miguel Benavente. Deputy Minister of Mining Suina Chahuán will act as the committee’s executive secretary but will not hold voting rights.

The private sector is represented by Joaquín Villarino, Executive President of the Mining Council, alongside Dominique Viera, President of the Association of Industrial Suppliers for Mining (APRIMIN), and Claudia López, President of the Chilean College of Geologists.

The committee also includes:

Daniela Desormeaux, economist, director at CESCO and head of studies at Vantaz Group Hernán de Solminihac, former Minister of Mining and Public Works under President Sebastián Piñera Eduardo Bitrán, former minister, former CORFO VP, and current Codelco board member Verónica Baraona, former Deputy Minister of Mining under President Michelle Bachelet Forlín Figueroa, Rector of the University of Atacama Dorotea López, Director of the Institute of International Studies at the University of Chile Jorge Sahd, Director of the Center for International Studies at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile Ezio Costa, Executive Director of the environmental NGO FIMA (with Antonio Pulgar as his alternate)

José Joaquín Jara, board member of CESCO and advisor to the Chilean Copper Commission (Cochilco), will serve as the moderator.

Objectives and Timeline

The committee’s primary task is to determine which minerals should be classified as strategic for Chile. To support this, it will draw on studies from Cochilco, SERNAGEOMIN, and the Espacio Público Foundation. These sources have mapped global trends and identified the full range of mineral resources found within Chilean territory.

The strategy is expected to go beyond the well-known importance of copper and lithium in the green transition, to assess other minerals such as rare earth elements, cobalt, rhenium, titanium, and manganese. These resources may become increasingly vital based on their technological applications and global demand.

The committee will hold in-person sessions from April through July and will deliver a final document by the end of July. The aim is to produce a cross-cutting, consensus-based strategic plan that can outlast political cycles and provide stable direction for Chile’s mining policy in the critical minerals domain.