Industry stakeholders agree on the urgency of unblocking the permitting system and advancing an agenda that restores certainty to the framework in order to boost investment and productivity. They also expect leadership capable of managing two portfolios without diluting the mining agenda.
By Valentina Céspedes
The incoming Government’s unexpected decision to move toward a reorganization of the Ministerio de Minería, temporarily integrating it into a shared structure with the Ministerio de Economía, has opened a new institutional scenario for the sector.
In the cabinet announced on January 20, President-elect José Antonio Kast opted to introduce a bi-ministry and appointed Daniel Mas Valdés as the sole authority. This decision raised questions regarding the leadership required to unlock investment, rebuild confidence, and ensure the viability of the mining agenda.
From the Consejo Minero, its executive president, Joaquín Villarino, notes that the challenge is not to restore legal certainty, but to strengthen it. In his view, it is also essential to improve the efficiency of the public sector. There is, he says, broad consensus on the need to modernize the permitting system and environmental evaluation. “I hope that the future minister will take advantage of this consensus and move forward with an agenda that is already underway,” he states. He adds that the sector is willing to collaborate to enhance project predictability and relations with communities.
This sense of urgency is shared by the Sociedad Nacional de Minería (Sonami). Its president, Jorge Riesco, warns that Chile faces a clear paradox. The external environment is favorable and the figures are solid, yet production remains stagnant. If bottlenecks are not addressed, he cautions, there is a risk of declining investment.
Accordingly, Riesco calls for a short-term agenda that restores certainty to the system. Among the priorities, he highlights a more agile and predictable approval process through the Sistema de Evaluación de Impacto Ambiental (SEIA), clear implementation of the Servicio de Biodiversidad y Áreas Protegidas (SBAP), and amendments to the Código de Minería to ensure operational continuity. This is complemented by effective support for small- and medium-scale mining. “Streamlining these processes could increase production by between 10% and 20%,” he argues.
This view is shared by the president of the Cámara Minera de Chile, Manuel Viera, who also expects to reactivate mining production through a reduction in permits and public policies that enable progress in that direction, alongside the industrialization of natural resources. He also stresses the need to restore mechanisms that incentivize foreign investment, with an updated and more efficient design.
Encouraging investment
Viera also underscores the role the new bi-minister will play in unlocking strategic projects linked to green hydrogen, whose delays reflect the shortcomings of the current regulatory framework and public-sector coordination. As an example, he points to the lack of agreements between the Chinese automaker BYD and Corfo, which led to the failed plan to install lithium plants and advance greater value addition.
Meanwhile, the executive director of Plusmining, Juan Carlos Guajardo, identifies several issues that, in his view, no longer allow for gradualism. In addition to the permitting system and certainty of timelines, he highlights the competitiveness of mature mining, particularly expansions and brownfield projects. The relationship that Mas Valdés establishes with local territories should evolve, in his view, from consultation toward early and professional management of agreements. As a final point, he mentions Chile’s role as a reliable supplier of critical minerals in an increasingly fragmented geopolitical landscape.
“Mining has ceased to be solely an economic issue, and Chile needs to define how it positions itself on that chessboard and with what country narrative,” Guajardo states. He adds that one of the desirable early signals would be a technically strong Subsecretaría de Minería, an initial plan with concrete measures and clear metrics, and visible actions to unlock exploration and existing expansions. All of this while maintaining environmental standards, but with reviewable processes.
The impact of a bi-ministry
The decision to merge the portfolios of Economy and Mining and move toward a bi-ministry has generated differing views. For Guajardo, it could be a sound strategy if mining is successfully aligned with investment and productivity. If well managed, it could reduce internal frictions within the State and improve public coordination. However, he warns of a risk: the political role of the Ministerio de Minería as an interlocutor with companies, unions, and territories could be diluted. “The institutional design must ensure, and ideally strengthen, a mining leadership with its own weight, technical capabilities, and political legitimacy,” he emphasizes.
The president of the Cámara Minera de Chile is more critical. He believes that the Ministerio de Minería, given its “complexity and challenges, requires a minister with exclusive dedication.” In a context of high global demand for minerals, he adds, “it is necessary that whoever is in charge of the portfolio has the technical competencies and the time required to achieve this,” and notes that the sector needs to attract investors and that the dual role “may delay the process.”
Source: Diario Financiero