Protest ends at Chile’s lithium salt flats with promise of Boric visit

Protesters agreed to end demonstrations that had blocked access to the Atacama salt flat in Chile, the world’s largest lithium deposit, with the promise of a visit by President Gabriel Boric.
Indigenous groups had for days blocked public roads that lead to mining operations in the south of the salt flat, where domestic producer SQM and U.S. firm Albemarle extract the metal, preventing workers, supplies and lithium from entering or leaving.
The demonstrations were sparked by an agreement signed last month between SQM and state-run copper firm Codelco, which indigenous leaders said sidelined local communities despite a recent government promise of a dialogue table to discuss lithium mining in the Atacama.
The Atacama Indigenous Council said in a statement shared on the social media platform X on Friday that protesters would end the occupation over the coming hours after the mining ministry promised Boric would come to the area. No timing was given for the visit.