Chile's SQM resumes operations in Atacama salt flat

"The company expects to resume normal operations throughout the course of the day," it said in a statement. Local indigenous communities started blocking access to the Atacama salt flat on Tuesday in protest over an agreement between SQM and state-run Codelco.

Chile's SQM, the country's largest lithium producer, on Monday said it was resuming operations in the Atacama salt flat after a temporary pause.

SQM suspended operations over the weekend due to protests by local indigenous communities that blocked access to the salt flat. "The company expects to resume normal operations throughout the course of the day," it said in a statement.

Local indigenous communities started blocking access to the Atacama salt flat on Tuesday in protest over an agreement between SQM and state-run Codelco. The Atacama Indigenous Council said they were sidelined by the agreement despite promises by the government that they would be part of any mining agreements in the salt flat.

The council ended the protest

over the weekend after a mining ministry official promised that President Gabriel Boric would visit the region.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)