In the new global map of critical minerals, lithium has moved beyond promise to become a structural input for the energy transition. In this context, the Lithium Triangle — comprising Chile, Argentina and Bolivia — holds not only strategic reserves, but also the opportunity to establish standards for an industry that will be decisive in the decades ahead.
Chile, one of the world’s leading lithium producers, has chosen to move in a different direction: not only to expand its productive capacity, but also to redefine the conditions under which that production takes place. This shift is reflected in the creation of the National Institute for Lithium and Salars, INLiSa, an institution that brings together science, technology, data and innovation to build a development model based on evidence and public value.
More than a technical body, INLiSa is emerging as a strategic institution designed to articulate the lithium ecosystem across three converging dimensions: the generation of open scientific knowledge, technological validation under real-world conditions, and a governance model that incorporates, from the outset, the territorial diversity of Chile’s salars.
An Ecosystem in Transition: From Resource to System
The starting point is clear: salars are not merely lithium deposits. They are complex systems where hydrogeological dynamics, unique biodiversity and extreme climatic conditions interact. Understanding them requires a different approach, one that combines frontier science with an integrated view of the territory.
INLiSa was created precisely to respond to that challenge. Its mission is to generate, apply and share scientific and technological knowledge for the sustainable development of lithium, under the principle that salars possess intrinsic value that must be managed in a balanced way across economic, environmental and social dimensions.
This approach marks a turning point from the historical model, in which information about salars has often been fragmented or concentrated among specific actors, whether private companies or academia. The Institute’s commitment is to move toward a public knowledge infrastructure that enables informed decision-making, reduces structural uncertainty and opens space for open science.
One of the most visible pillars of this new model is the development of a technological piloting platform that will allow future industry technologies to be validated under real-world conditions.
To design this platform, INLiSa carried out an international Request for Information process, convening actors from different countries and generating a portfolio of 24 responses. The analysis of this process offers an early view of key trends in the technological development of the sector.
The clearest signal is the predominance of Direct Lithium Extraction, or DLE, technologies and hybrid processes, which represent close to 70 percent of the proposals. Yet the technological interest is far broader, ranging from the processing of lithium-bearing clays to alternative routes for obtaining high-purity products, along with a range of complementary solutions.
This diversity confirms that the industry is in a transitional phase, where multiple solutions are competing to consolidate. In this context, INLiSa’s role is not to pick winners, but to create the conditions under which technologies can be rigorously evaluated.
Based on this diagnosis, the Institute has begun structuring a dual model: one track for high-demand pilots requiring full operating conditions, and another for modular or early-activation initiatives. This architecture makes it possible to combine flexibility with technical depth, adapting to the diversity of technologies currently under development.
The next step is already underway. During 2026, INLiSa will move forward with the deployment of pilots using real brines from Chilean salars, marking the transition from laboratory piloting to field validation. For this year, companies from Australia, the Netherlands and Germany have requested access to brine to carry out tests under real conditions, with volumes reaching up to 60 cubic meters per month.
Enabling these pilots has required intensive logistical, regulatory and territorial coordination, including permits, operating conditions and engagement with local actors. Beyond its technical dimension, this process helps reduce one of the sector’s main gaps: the distance between technological development and validation in real-world contexts.
Data Sovereignty: The Invisible Infrastructure
If the piloting platform represents the Institute’s most tangible dimension, the Knowledge Platform — based on a CRIS system — is its backbone.
The objective is to build a public, curated and structured scientific information base capable of overcoming the historical fragmentation of knowledge about salars. This system will integrate data in areas such as hydrogeology, biology, engineering and lithium technologies, creating a common reference point for researchers, regulators and decision-makers.
Since February, specialized teams have advanced in the collection and systematization of information, defining priorities and integration methodologies. This infrastructure not only organizes existing knowledge; it is also actively fed by evidence generated in the field. This year, the Institute will deploy campaigns in strategic salars such as Ollagüe, Ascotán, Caracote and Maricunga, through collaborative projects that will generate primary data and strengthen the available scientific base.
Hernán Cáceres, Executive Director of INLiSa, said one of the sector’s structural problems has been the fragmentation of information.
“What we are doing at INLiSa is building a stronger, more open and more useful knowledge base to reduce uncertainty and support decisions with better evidence,” he said.
In parallel, INLiSa has begun to articulate collaboration networks with national and international actors, including research programs, academic initiatives and institutional partnerships. This ecosystem expands the Institute’s reach and reinforces its role as a knowledge hub.
Governance That Integrates Science and Territory
INLiSa’s distinctive feature is its governance. For the first time in an institution of this kind in Chile, Indigenous Peoples — the ancestral inhabitants of the salars — are formally incorporated into strategic decision-making. The Institute is currently coordinating a participatory process across four northern regions to define the representation of the Aymara, Quechua, Lickanantay and Colla peoples on its Board of Directors. This methodological design seeks not only legitimacy, but also the direct incorporation of territorial knowledge into Chile’s lithium strategy.
The methodology prioritizes co-design and direct participation, allowing communities themselves to define the criteria that will guide their incorporation into the Institute. This approach strengthens institutional legitimacy while enriching the knowledge base from which decisions are made.
By integrating different forms of knowledge — scientific and territorial — INLiSa broadens the understanding of salars and strengthens the quality of strategic decision-making.
International Projection: Chile Enters the Global Conversation
INLiSa’s international positioning is beginning to play a decisive role. The Institute’s recent incorporation as an Affiliate Partner of the International Lithium Association, or ILiA, marks a turning point in its global projection, placing Chile in spaces where standards, practices and strategic guidelines for the lithium industry are being defined.
From ILiA’s perspective, INLiSa’s incorporation is seen as a relevant contribution to an ecosystem seeking to advance toward greater levels of innovation, sustainability and scientific coordination. According to its Secretary General, Ronald Chavasse, the Institute’s membership will create new opportunities for innovation and joint work.
“Its role in generating knowledge, scientific coordination and technological development around lithium significantly strengthens our ecosystem,” he said.
For Chile, this step carries a deeper meaning. It is not only about participating in international networks, but about influencing them from a proposal grounded in evidence, piloting and public science. In a context of growing competition for leadership in critical minerals, this articulation positions the country as an actor that not only supplies resources, but also contributes to defining how they are produced.
Outlook: Beyond Extraction
INLiSa’s horizon is not limited to optimizing extractive processes. Its ambition is broader: to advance toward effective participation in the higher-value stages of the lithium chain by creating enabling conditions — generating public knowledge, reducing technological uncertainty, articulating scientific networks and facilitating evidence-based decision-making.
“If Chile wants to generate more value in this chain, it needs much more than an available resource: it needs scientific, technological and institutional capabilities. INLiSa was created precisely to contribute to that enabling base, from a long-term perspective,” Cáceres said.
Chile is thus building a model that moves beyond the traditional extractive logic. Not as a declarative statement, but as an architecture under development, in which piloting, open science and governance are integrated as components of a single strategy.
In a context of rising demand and intensified global competition, the advantage will no longer lie solely in the availability of the resource, but in the ability to understand it, manage it and project it intelligently.
More than a sectoral actor, INLiSa represents a national commitment: not only to participate in the lithium industry, but to help define its evolution. The true differentiator will be the capacity to transform lithium into knowledge, technology and decision-making capability.
