SANTAIGO, Dec 19 (Reuters) – The Chilean comptroller’s office said on Friday that it will launch an audit of the lithium agreement between state copper giant Codelco and local producer SQM.
In a statement, Codelco said it welcomed the decision, adding it would “approach the process with complete transparency and professionalism” and that the audit would help “reaffirm the integrity” of the agreement with SQM.
SQM said it would not comment on the audit.
The comptroller’s office said the audit was due to complaints from legislators but noted that it was barred from ruling on most of them due to previous rulings from the justice system.
(Reporting by Fabian CamberoEditing by David Goodman, Gabriel Araujo)
