Carey advises Ivanhoe Electric on exploration agreement with SQM  

Carey advised Ivanhoe Electric on a collaboration and exploration agreement with Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (SQM) to explore approximately 2,002 km² of SQM’s mining properties in northern Chile for potential copper deposits.

The agreement includes a USD 9 million investment by SQM to fund three years of exploration activities and the deployment of Ivanhoe Electric’s Typhoon™ geophysical prospecting technology together with data inversion software developed by Computational Geoscience Inc. (CGI). If successful, Ivanhoe Electric will have the option to establish a 50/50 joint venture with SQM, under which SQM may act as operator and appoint the CEO.

The collaboration enables the deployment of advanced exploration technologies in northern Chile, one of the world’s richest copper regions where highly resistive caliche layers often conceal significant mineral potential. According to the terms of the agreement, this alliance aims to accelerate the identification of critical minerals essential to the global energy transition.

The Carey team involved in the transaction included partners Rafael Vergara, Alejandra Daroch, Francisca Corti and Manuel José Garcés, along with associates Dominique Zuckermann, José Ignacio Burchardt and Pedro Zavala.