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The decision was taken after admitting the appeal filed by the regional governor of Atacama, Miguel Vargas.
Chile's Judicial Power confirmed on Friday that the Court of Appeals of Copiapó ordered the suspension of the lithium bidding process, following the controversy that arose in the country after the announcement of the Ministry of Mining.
Through his account on the social network Twitter, he indicated that the "Court of Appeals of Copiapó accepts the appeal for protection and issues a restraining order suspending the bidding process for lithium exploitation, exploration and beneficiation contracts."
It also clarifies that the Court decided, after admitting the processing of an appeal for protection filed by the regional governor of Atacama, Miguel Vargas, and indigenous communities, against the lithium bidding process in the north of Chile.
The appeal filed against this process alleged the violation of constitutional guarantees such as equality before the law, the right to live in an environment free of contamination and to develop any economic activity.
The Court also gave ten days for the Minister of Mining, Juan Carlos Jobs, and the Undersecretary of this entity, Edgar Blanco Rand, to present reports on the adjudications for exploiting lithium.
The Judicial Power indicated that "it is necessary to notify the respondent by the most expeditious means of the filing of the present appeal and the granting of the order not to innovate, attaching a copy of the appeal and the present resolution."
The Chilean Ministry of Mining informed last January 12 that two quotas, of the five available, of 80,000 tons of lithium each, for a total of 121 million dollars were awarded to the companies BYD Chile SpA and Servicios y Operaciones Mineras del Norte S.A.
Following the rejection of this action by several sectors of the country, a group of opposition deputies filed an appeal with the Comptroller General's Office to request an investigation into the legality of the bidding process.
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