During his first trip to South America as Chancellor, Olaf Scholz announced a new raw materials partnership with Chile for the green transformation in Germany.

In view of the environmental, labor and social problems in mining, which have caused resentment and frustrated projects in this sector, Germany with its high standards is an ideal partner, Scholz said at a press conference with his Chilean counterpart.

“There's this expression – extractivism – that says everything is just pulled out of the earth.

But that's not a good thing if that's all that happens.

We want to help Chile on the way to a sustainable mining sector.” Germany also wants to ensure that mining creates more jobs in the countries of origin.

"The question is: can't we make sure

that the first step in the manufacturing process, which creates hundreds if not thousands of jobs, can take place in the (source) countries?

That would also save a lot of transport costs.”

The government in Berlin hopes the agreement will give better access to critical minerals that are crucial for the transition to a green economy.

With a view to the automotive industry in Chile, Germany wants to secure more lithium, which is needed for the production of batteries for electric vehicles.

The world's largest deposit of the ultra-light metal is in the so-called "Lithium Triangle" - in the border triangle of Argentina, Bolivia and Chile.

A Bolivian-German lithium joint venture signed in 2018 fell through two years later due to domestic unrest in the South American country.