Funding before a permit: how quickly can Chilean lithium project Black Giant get online?

US direct lithium extraction (DLE) firm EnergyX has closed ~US$1bn of financing for Project Black Giant, a 52,500tpa lithium carbonate development at Salar de Punta Negra, without a Contrato Especial de Operación de Litio (CEOL), the licence required to operate.  Italian energy multinational Eni's $225m for a 25% stake, stacked on a $690m debt letter of intent from the US Export-Import (EXIM) Bank, puts capital, technology, offtake and Washington's sponsorship in place. Yet Punta Negra is a basin the Chilean state has already legally recognised as damaged, raising questions about the pace with which production is likely to begin – particularly given no private contract has yet received full authorisation with a CEOL.