Asian Tech Press (Jan 19) -- A Chilean court has halted a contract involving a total of 80,000 tons of lithium metal production quotas for BYD. This is just two days after the Chilean government announced that BYD had won the bid.

According to AFP, the mining contract was suspended because of an appeal filed by the governor of Copiapo state, where the lithium mine is located, and the indigenous communities near the Salar de Atacama salt lake. They argued that the tender proposal was contrary to environmental protection and economic development principles.

Chile's Copiapo State Court said that the tender and authorization for the lithium mine will now be temporarily suspended in light of the controversial tender proposal. The Chilean Ministry of Mines said the tender was not finally canceled and that the previous tender process was "open, transparent and in compliance with all current legislation.

Previously, in October 2021, the Chilean government put out a tender for a domestic production quota of about 400,000 tons of lithium metal, divided into five shares of 80,000 tons each. A total of five companies participated in the tender. BYD won the bid with the highest price of $61 million. A local Chilean company also won the bid with $60 million. Two other Chilean companies and one U.S. company did not win the contract because of their low offers.