Chilean government submits draft National Critical Minerals Strategy for public consultation

By means of Exempt Resolution No. 2,231/2025, Chile’s Ministry of Mining recently submitted the draft National Critical Minerals Strategy for public consultation. This process signals a major step forward in implementing Chile’s 2050 National Mining Policy.

The consultation period is open for 30 calendar days from September 22, 2025. Observations may be submitted through the Ministry of Mining citizen participation platform, via email at participa@minmineria.cl, or in person at the Ministry of Mining’s office in Santiago.

Key aspects of the draft National Critical Minerals Strategy

The draft is structured to present the background for the development of the strategy, including Chile’s geological potential, its commercial relationships, and projections for its critical minerals demand. The draft also provides Chile’s definition of “critical mineral,” outlines the framework of the strategy, and details the Chilean Ministry of Mining’s governance.

The strategy lists the following objectives:

• Strengthen the position of Chile as a reliable supplier of critical minerals by ensuring a stable and diversified supply of minerals
  
  
• Strengthen the position of Chile as a responsible supplier, guaranteeing high environmental and social standards and contributing to the territorial development and public trust of the industry
  
  
• Promote value addition and development of new industries related to critical minerals, strengthening the country's productive, technological and human capital resources
  
  
• Promote international integration and diplomacy of critical minerals, including strategic alliances and mutually beneficial partnerships at both national and international levels towards the reliable and responsible development of the critical minerals value chain
  
  
• Enable capacities for critical minerals that guarantee an effective implementation of the strategy

The draft strategy adopts a flexible definition for “critical mineral” that considers Chile’s current or potential significant share of a mineral’s global supply, whether it is classified as “critical” in relevant economies, and its national strategic opportunities – even if the mineral is not on foreign lists of critical minerals.

As such, the draft strategy divides minerals into three groups:

• Leading minerals of Chile (eg, copper, lithium, molybdenum, and rhenium)
• Minerals with potential (eg, cobalt, rare earths, antimony, selenium, and tellurium), and
• Minerals with strategic opportunities for Chile (eg, gold, silver, iron, boron, and iodine).

For more information, please contact the authors.

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