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Mining, lithium and energy in Chile: concessions, the mining patent, the copper royalty, the lithium reserve, the renewable quota, environmental assessment and tax stability

Last verified: 2026-10-26 · Status: Changing

In Chile the State owns all mines, but private investors can hold exploration and exploitation concessions. Courts grant these concessions, they are protected as property, and they are kept alive by paying an annual patent per hectare. Lithium, oil and gas cannot be held under a concession and are developed by the State or under special contracts. Since 1 January 2024, large copper miners pay a royalty under Ley Nº 21.591: a 1 percent ad valorem component on copper sales plus a margin component of up to 26 percent, with total tax capped at 46.5 percent of adjusted mining taxable income. Power sellers must source 20 percent of the energy they withdraw from non conventional renewables. Mines, power plants over 3 MW and similar projects must pass environmental assessment first. From 1 January 2027, foreign investments of US$50 million or more can lock in their tax rules, including the royalty and patents, for 10 to 20 years.

USD figures use the Central Bank exchange rate of CLP 986.58 per US dollar published in the Diario Oficial for 23 October 2026 (CVE 2891564). UTM amounts use the SII value of CLP 72,151 for October 2026. Conversions are for orientation only; mining patents are paid in March at the UTM then in force, and the royalty and stability thresholds are set in tonnes of copper and US dollars by law.

Key facts

Royalty Minero ad valorem component on copper sales of operators over 50,000 t fine copper	1 %Ley Nº 21.591 art. 2, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Royalty Minero margin component, top rate for copper operators over 50,000 t	26 %Ley Nº 21.591 art. 3, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Royalty Minero margin component, rate at a margin of 20 or less	8 %Ley Nº 21.591 art. 3 Nº 1, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Cap on royalty plus income taxes, share of adjusted mining operating taxable income (operators over 80,000 t)	46.5 %Ley Nº 21.591 art. 8, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Annual sales below which no royalty is due	12,000 t fine copper equivalentLey Nº 21.591 art. 4 Nº 1, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Annual patent, exploration concession	0.06 UTM per hectareCódigo de Minería art. 142 bis, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Annual patent, exploitation concession in operation or under environmental assessment	0.1 UTM per hectareCódigo de Minería art. 142 bis, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Annual patent, idle exploitation concession from year 31	12 UTM per hectareCódigo de Minería art. 142 bis letter g), as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Lithium can be held under a mining concession	No textCódigo de Minería art. 7 and 8; Ley Nº 18.097 art. 3, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Share of withdrawals that must come from non conventional renewables	20 %DFL Nº 4 of 2006 art. 150 bis, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Charge per MWh of renewable quota shortfall (first breach)	0.4 UTM per MWhDFL Nº 4 of 2006 art. 150 bis, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Power plant size above which environmental assessment is required	3 MWLey Nº 19.300 art. 10 letter c), as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Legal period to rule on an Environmental Impact Study (extendable once by 60)	120 daysLey Nº 19.300 art. 15 and 16, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Legal period to rule on an Environmental Impact Declaration	60 daysLey Nº 19.300 art. 18, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Minimum investment for a tax stability contract	50,000,000 USDLey Nº 21.850 art. 26, as of 2026-10-26 · pending
Longest tax stability term (investments of US$350 million or more)	20 yearsLey Nº 21.850 art. 26 Nº 2 A, as of 2026-10-26 · pending
Extra first category tax rate charged for stability	1.5 percentage pointsLey Nº 21.850 art. 26 Nº 2 C, as of 2026-10-26 · pending

The rule

1. Mining concessions are either for exploration or for exploitation. They are real property rights in immovable property, separate from ownership of the land surface. They are granted by resolution of the ordinary courts, in a judicial procedure with no decision making role for any other authority. Once granted by a court, the holder owns the concession under the property guarantee of Constitution art. 19 Nº 24. The holder must keep the concession alive (the amparo regime) by paying an annual patent in advance to the Treasury, as set by the Mining Code. Unpaid patents are recovered only against the concession itself, which is auctioned in a judicial procedure. Patents paid on an exploitation concession can be credited against the income tax from mining on that concession, as set by the Mining Code.
Cost to do it: No purchase price is paid to the State for the concession. The costs are the judicial filing fee charged once per application under Mining Code art. 51 (expressed in hundredths of a UTM), survey and legal work, which are private professional costs, and the annual patent in rule 2.Ley Nº 18.097, Ley Orgánica Constitucional sobre Concesiones Mineras, Art. 1, art. 2, art. 5, art. 6 and art. 12, 1982-01-21 official text · verified 2026-10-26

2. The annual patent per full hectare is three fiftieths (0.06) of a UTM for each year of an exploration concession. For an exploitation concession it is one tenth (0.1) of a UTM where the holder shows each year that it carries on permanent and continuous mining operations. The same 0.1 UTM applies where the claims belong to a project that has an environmental approval (RCA) or has been admitted to environmental assessment, or that has certain mining safety permits in process. Exploitation concessions that meet none of these conditions pay a rising patent: 0.4 UTM a year in years 1 to 5, 0.8 in years 6 to 10, 0.9 in years 11 to 15, 1.2 in years 16 to 20, 3 in years 21 to 25, 6 in years 26 to 30 and 12 from year 31. Holders of up to 500 hectares in total who work at least one concession pay 0.1 UTM per hectare under art. 142 ter. The patent is paid in advance during March each year, and patents paid on a concession that is later abandoned or lapses are not refunded.
Cost to do it: Exploration: 0.06 UTM per hectare a year. Exploitation in operation: 0.1 UTM per hectare. Idle exploitation claims: 0.4 to 12 UTM per hectare depending on age.
Example: A 300 hectare exploitation concession in operation pays 30 UTM, CLP 2,164,530 at the October 2026 UTM. If idle in its first five years it pays 120 UTM, CLP 8,658,120, and from year 31 it pays 3,600 UTM, CLP 259,743,600. A 1,000 hectare exploration concession pays 60 UTM, CLP 4,329,060 a year. / The same 300 hectares cost about US$2,194 a year in operation, about US$8,776 if idle in years 1 to 5 and about US$263,277 if idle from year 31. The 1,000 hectare exploration concession costs about US$4,388 a year.Ley Nº 18.248, Código de Minería, as amended by Ley Nº 21.420 and Ley Nº 21.649, Art. 142, art. 142 bis, art. 142 ter, art. 143 and art. 145, 2022-02-04 official text · verified 2026-10-26 · changed: Ley Nº 21.420, published on 4 February 2022 (art. 10 Nº 15 and 16), replaced the flat patent for exploitation concessions with art. 142 bis: 0.1 UTM per hectare for claims being worked or in a project under environmental assessment, and a scale rising from 0.4 to 12 UTM per hectare over the life of idle claims. Ley Nº 21.649 (Diario Oficial 30 December 2023) added the 0.1 UTM rate of art. 142 ter for holders of up to 500 hectares.

3. Liquid or gaseous hydrocarbons, lithium, deposits of any kind in waters under national maritime jurisdiction, and deposits located wholly or partly in zones declared of importance for national security cannot be held under a mining concession. Concessions validly granted before such a declaration are preserved. These substances may be explored or exploited directly by the State or its companies, or through administrative concessions or special operating contracts, on the terms the President sets for each case by supreme decree.
Cost to do it: No concession route exists. Access is through a contract or administrative concession negotiated with the State, on terms set case by case by supreme decree.Ley Nº 18.097 and Ley Nº 18.248, Código de Minería, Ley Nº 18.097 art. 3 paragraph 4; Código de Minería art. 7 and art. 8, 1983-10-14 official text · verified 2026-10-26

4. The Royalty Minero is a tax on mining operators, meaning those who extract concessible minerals and sell them. Operators whose annual sales exceed the equivalent of 50,000 metric tonnes of fine copper pay an ad valorem component of 1 percent on annual copper sales. This component is reduced by any negative adjusted mining operating taxable income (RIOMA), but not below zero. If more than 50 percent of their sales are copper, they also pay a margin component on RIOMA: 8 percent where the mining operating margin (RIOMA divided by mining operating income, times 100) is 20 or less, a formula rate capped at 12 percent for margins over 20 up to 45, a formula rate capped at 26 percent for margins over 45 up to 60, and 26 percent for margins over 60. Other operators pay nothing on sales up to 12,000 tonnes of fine copper equivalent. Between 12,000 and 50,000 tonnes they pay average rates built from 0.4 to 4.4 percent bands. Above 50,000 tonnes they pay marginal rates of 5 to 34.5 percent by margin band, with 14 percent where the margin exceeds 85. Sales are averaged over the last six years and include related parties. Total burden is capped: first category tax, final taxes counted as a 35 percent load on taxable income, and the royalty together may not exceed 46.5 percent of RIOMA, or 45.5 percent for operators with sales up to 80,000 tonnes. If they do, the royalty is cut to fit the cap. Small and artisanal miners are excluded. The royalty is assessed annually and paid in April with the income tax return, with monthly provisional payments of 0.3 percent of mining sales where no other rate can be set. Operators must file audited annual and quarterly financial statements with the CMF.
Cost to do it: For a large copper miner: 1 percent of copper sales plus 8 to 26 percent of RIOMA, limited by the 46.5 percent total burden cap (45.5 percent up to 80,000 tonnes).
Example: Copper sales of CLP 986,580,000,000 and RIOMA of CLP 690,606,000,000 (margin 70): margin component 26 percent, CLP 179,557,560,000, plus ad valorem 1 percent, CLP 9,865,800,000, a royalty of CLP 189,423,360,000 before the cap test. / US$1,000 million of copper sales and US$700 million of RIOMA give a royalty of US$192 million (US$182 million margin plus US$10 million ad valorem) before the cap test. The cap is 46.5 percent of RIOMA, US$325.5 million.Ley Nº 21.591, Ley sobre Royalty a la Minería, as amended by Ley Nº 21.647, Art. 1 to art. 11; first transitory article (in force 1 January 2024); third transitory article, 2023-08-10 official text · verified 2026-10-26 · changed: Ley Nº 21.591, published on 10 August 2023 and in force from 1 January 2024, replaced the specific mining tax of DL Nº 824 art. 64 bis with the Royalty Minero. Ley Nº 21.647 (Diario Oficial 23 December 2023) adjusted the definition of mining operating income. Miners with tax stability under DL Nº 600 art. 11 ter, Ley Nº 20.026 or Ley Nº 20.469 keep the rules in force on 1 January 2022 until their stability ends.

5. Every power company that withdraws energy from the national electricity system to sell to distributors or end customers, whether or not their prices are regulated, must show the Coordinator that energy equal to 20 percent of its withdrawals in each calendar year was injected into the system from non conventional renewable sources it owns or contracts. It may also use the previous year's unused renewable injections, or buy another company's surplus. A company that has not shown compliance by 1 March of the following year pays a charge of 0.4 UTM per MWh of shortfall, or 0.6 UTM per MWh if it falls short again within three years. It may defer up to 50 percent of the obligation by one year if it tells the Superintendency before 1 March. The charges are passed to the customers of compliant suppliers. Hydro plants of up to 40,000 kW count, with a reduction factor above 20,000 kW.
Cost to do it: Shortfall charge of 0.4 UTM per MWh (0.6 UTM if repeated within three years).
Example: A 100,000 MWh shortfall costs 40,000 UTM, CLP 2,886,040,000 at the October 2026 UTM; one MWh costs CLP 28,860, or CLP 43,291 at the repeat rate. / About US$29.25 per MWh, or about US$2.93 million for a 100,000 MWh shortfall; about US$43.88 per MWh at the repeat rate.DFL Nº 4 of 2006, Ministerio de Economía, Ley General de Servicios Eléctricos, as amended by Ley Nº 20.257, Ley Nº 20.698, Ley Nº 20.936 and Ley Nº 21.804, Art. 150 bis, 2026-02-13 official text · verified 2026-10-26 · changed: Ley Nº 21.804, published on 13 February 2026, rewrote art. 150 bis so that the 20 percent obligation refers to withdrawals from the national electricity system, no longer to systems over 200 MW. It also removed transfers of surplus between different systems and placed the public registry with the Coordinator.

6. Projects listed in art. 10 may only be built or modified after environmental impact assessment. The list includes high voltage transmission lines and substations, power plants over 3 MW, mining projects (including coal, oil and gas, covering prospecting, extraction, processing plants and waste and tailings disposal), pipelines and mineral ducts, ports, industrial agroindustry and forestry, and intensive aquaculture. The developer files a sworn Environmental Impact Declaration (DIA), or a full Environmental Impact Study (EIA) where the project has any of the effects in art. 11. The authority has 120 days to rule on an EIA, extendable once by up to 60 days, and 60 days for a DIA. These periods stop running while the developer answers requests for clarifications. Citizens have 60 days to comment on an EIA. An EIA or DIA lacking essential information can be returned within the first 40 or 30 days respectively.
Cost to do it: No State filing fee is set in the law. The cost is the baseline studies and consultants needed for the DIA or EIA, plus the time the project cannot be built.Ley Nº 19.300, Ley sobre Bases Generales del Medio Ambiente, as amended by Ley Nº 20.417, Art. 8, art. 10 letters b), c), i), j), art. 11, art. 15, art. 15 bis, art. 16, art. 18, art. 18 bis and art. 29, 1994-03-09 official text · verified 2026-10-26

7. From 1 January 2027, foreign investors as defined in Ley Nº 20.848 that sign an investment contract with the Ministry of Finance for mining, industrial, forestry, energy, infrastructure, telecommunications, research, technology, medical or scientific projects of at least US$50 million can lock in their effective total income tax burden. The lock lasts 10 years for US$50 million up to US$100 million, 15 years for US$100 million up to US$350 million, and 20 years from US$350 million, counted from start up. Mining projects can also freeze the Royalty Minero rules, be exempt from any new tax specific to mining, and be protected against heavier mining patents. Capital must be brought in within 10 years for mining and 5 years for other projects. The price is a first category tax rate 1.5 percentage points above the rate fixed in the contract. Related party debt above three times tax equity ends the stability, and the investee companies must file audited financial statements with the CMF.
Cost to do it: 1.5 percentage points on the first category tax rate fixed in the contract, for income from the covered investment.
Example: A mining investment of CLP 345,303,000,000 qualifies for 20 years of stability. / US$50 million buys 10 years, US$100 million 15 years and US$350 million 20 years of stability, each counted from start up.Ley Nº 21.850, para la Reconstrucción Nacional y el Desarrollo Económico y Social, Art. 26, numbers 1, 2 A, 2 B letter c), 2 C and 3, 2026-10-17 official text · verified 2026-10-26 · changed: Ley Nº 21.850, published on 17 October 2026, created a new tax stability regime for large investments from 1 January 2027, including royalty and mining patent stability for mining projects.

8. The Framework Law on Sectoral Authorizations sets common rules for the State bodies that grant the permits a project needs outside environmental assessment. It sorts sectoral authorizations into types by their purpose and creates the System for Sectoral Regulation and Evaluation, which includes an Office of Sectoral Authorizations and Investment. The law took effect on publication, except for listed transitory articles, and much of it depends on regulations and decrees with force of law still to be issued.
Cost to do it: No new fee is set by the framework itself; existing sectoral permit fees continue to apply.Ley Nº 21.770, Ley Marco de Autorizaciones Sectoriales, Art. 1, art. 2, art. 7 and art. 8; first and third transitory articles, 2025-09-29 official text · verified 2026-10-26

Component	Base	Rate	Notes
Ad valorem	Annual copper sales	1%	Reduced by any negative RIOMA, not below zero
Margin, margin of 20 or less	RIOMA	8%
Margin, over 20 up to 45	RIOMA	Formula, effective maximum 12%
Margin, over 45 up to 60	RIOMA	Formula, effective maximum 26%
Margin, over 60	RIOMA	26%
Total burden cap	RIOMA	46.5% (45.5% up to 80,000 t)	First category tax, final taxes at 35% of taxable income and royalty combined

Royalty Minero for an operator with sales over 50,000 tonnes of fine copper and more than 50 percent copper (Ley Nº 21.591 art. 2, 3 and 8). Margin is RIOMA divided by mining operating income, times 100.

Concession	UTM per hectare	CLP per hectare	USD per hectare
Exploration, each year	0.06	4,329	about 4.39
Exploitation in operation, in a project under environmental assessment or approved, or holder of up to 500 ha working a claim	0.1	7,215	about 7.31
Idle exploitation, years 1 to 5	0.4	28,860	about 29.25
Idle exploitation, years 6 to 10	0.8	57,721	about 58.51
Idle exploitation, years 11 to 15	0.9	64,936	about 65.82
Idle exploitation, years 16 to 20	1.2	86,581	about 87.76
Idle exploitation, years 21 to 25	3	216,453	about 219.40
Idle exploitation, years 26 to 30	6	432,906	about 438.79
Idle exploitation, from year 31	12	865,812	about 877.59

Annual mining patent per full hectare (Código de Minería art. 142 bis and 142 ter), with CLP and USD at the October 2026 UTM of CLP 72,151 and CLP 986.58 per US dollar.

Worked example

A large copper miner with average sales above 80,000 tonnes of fine copper has copper sales of US$1,000 million (CLP 986,580 million) and RIOMA of US$700 million (CLP 690,606 million), a margin of 70. Its royalty before the cap is US$182 million of margin component (26 percent) plus US$10 million ad valorem (1 percent), US$192 million or CLP 189,423 million (Ley Nº 21.591 art. 2 and 3).
Cap test, on the illustrative assumption that taxable income is US$518 million: final taxes counted at 35 percent of taxable income are US$181.3 million (CLP 178,867 million), so taxes plus royalty are US$373.3 million (CLP 368,290 million). The cap is 46.5 percent of RIOMA, US$325.5 million (CLP 321,132 million). The royalty is cut by US$47.8 million to US$144.2 million (CLP 142,265 million) (Ley Nº 21.591 art. 8). The actual taxable income depends on the art. 6 adjustments, so a real calculation needs the full return.
A junior explorer holds 1,000 hectares of exploration concessions and 300 hectares of exploitation claims it is not yet working. In March it pays 60 UTM for exploration and 120 UTM for the idle claims in their first five years, 180 UTM in total, about CLP 12,987,180 or US$13,164 at the October 2026 UTM. Once the project is admitted to environmental assessment, the 300 hectares drop to 0.1 UTM, 30 UTM a year (Código de Minería art. 142 bis).

Step by step

1. Map the target area and file an exploration or exploitation concession application with the competent civil court, paying the one time filing fee under Código de Minería art. 51; the court, not a ministry, grants the concession (Ley Nº 18.097 art. 5).
2. Register the concession and diary the annual patent: it is paid in advance during March at any bank authorised to collect taxes (Código de Minería art. 143). An unpaid patent sends the concession to judicial auction.
3. Before building, decide with environmental counsel whether the project needs a DIA or an EIA under Ley Nº 19.300 art. 10 and 11. Baseline studies often take longer than the 60 or 120 day review periods.
4. Once the project is admitted to environmental assessment, file with SERNAGEOMIN to move the claims to the 0.1 UTM patent (Código de Minería art. 142 bis).
5. For lithium, oil or gas, do not file a concession: approach the State for a special operating contract or administrative concession under Código de Minería art. 8.
6. For a copper operation, model the Royalty Minero from the first year of sales, including the six year sales average with related parties and the 0.3 percent provisional payment rate for the first year (Ley Nº 21.591 art. 5 and 7).
7. For a power generation or retail business, plan how the 20 percent renewable obligation will be met through own plants, contracts or bought surplus before 1 March of the following year (DFL Nº 4 art. 150 bis).
8. For investments of US$50 million or more, apply through InvestChile for a Ley Nº 21.850 art. 26 tax stability contract once the regime starts on 1 January 2027, and keep related party debt within three times tax equity.

Common traps

Assuming that holding a mining concession gives a right to build: the concession is property in the minerals, but the mine still needs environmental approval and sectoral permits (Ley Nº 19.300 art. 8).
Leaving exploitation claims idle: the patent on idle claims rises from 0.4 to 12 UTM per hectare as the concession ages, 120 times the operating rate (Código de Minería art. 142 bis).
Expecting a refund of patents after abandoning claims: none is allowed (Código de Minería art. 145).
Filing a mining concession for lithium or hydrocarbons: they are not concessible, so only contracts with the State give access (Código de Minería art. 7 and 8).
Counting only your own production for the royalty bands: sales of related mining operators are added, averaged over six years (Ley Nº 21.591 art. 5).
Reading the 120 day EIA period as a deadline for the whole process: the clock stops while the developer answers clarification requests, and these rounds can be extended (Ley Nº 19.300 art. 16).
Losing tax stability by over leveraging: related party debt above three times tax equity at a year end ends the stability (Ley Nº 21.850 art. 26 Nº 2 A).
For cross border projects with Argentina, assuming the bilateral mining treaty replaces Chilean rules: the Chile Argentina Mining Integration and Complementation Treaty of 29 December 1997 and its 1999 protocol, published in the Diario Oficial on 7 February 2001, work through project specific protocols, and Chilean concession, royalty and environmental rules still apply on the Chilean side.

Sources

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