Ivanhoe Electric signs copper exploration agreement with SQM

The agreement provides for an investment of $9 million by SQM to fund three years of exploration activities, as well as the use of Ivanhoe Electric’s Typhoon geophysical prospecting technology, together with data inversion software developed by Computational Geoscience Inc. (CGI).

In the event of successful results, Ivanhoe Electric will have the option to form a 50/50 joint venture with SQM, under which SQM would have the option to act as operator and the right to appoint the CEO.

The collaboration between Ivanhoe Electric and SQM will enable the deployment of the innovative Typhoon and CGI technologies in northern Chile, one of the world’s most copper-rich regions. In the area, extensive layers of highly electrically resistive caliche conceal significant mineral potential beneath the surface. This strategic alliance unlocks the value of SQM’s mining concessions and accelerates the identification of critical minerals essential to the global energy transition.

Ivanhoe Electric was advised on the agreement by Chilean law firm Carey, whose team was led by partners Rafael Vergara, Alejandra Daroch, Francisca Corti and Manuel José Garcés, with associates Dominique Zuckermann, José Ignacio Burchardt and Pedro Zavala.

SQM’s in-house lawyers were general counsel Gonzalo Aguirre, legal manager Cristóbal Gonzalez and attorney Daniela Reyes.