Chile’s economy minister sees it differently.

“Chile has 40% of these reserves (…) there is a lot of interest in the world for lithium and especially for the lithium that we have here, it’s enormous,” Nicolás Grau told Chile’s Meganoticias on Saturday.

The economy minister noted that Chile is the second-largest producer of lithium in the world and has the third-largest reserves of the metal, which is used to make batteries for electric vehicles. In 2022, Chile accounted for nearly a third of global lithium production, with production from its lithium mine estimated at 39,000 tonnes.

The demand for lithium will only increase

Demand for lithium is expected to surge with the global transition to renewable energy and the growth of electric vehicles, an issue of great interest to Musk that Grau says can be resolved.

“There are many things that can be done consistent with what Elon Musk is saying. Well I would say with one caveat that he is downright downplaying the relevance of lithium.”

Musk is not alone

The Chilean economy also expressed concern after Boric’s announcement.

“We were quite concerned,” said Ricardo Mewes, chairman of the Confederation of Manufacturing and Commerce, an association representing Chile’s business community.

Meanwhile, lithium stocks, including Albemarle Corp ALBSociedad Quimica Y Minera SA QMand Livent Corp LTHM crashed Friday. Warren Buffett-backed electric vehicle maker BYD Company (OTC: BYDDY) BYDDF plans to build $290 million lithium cathode factory in Chile.