Chile's state-run mining body ENAMI has tapped Rio Tinto for a 51% share of the Altoandinos lithium project, it said on Thursday, giving the global miner its second major venture in Chile for extraction of the key battery metal.

Rio Tinto has today been confirmed as the preferred partner for the Salares Altoandinos lithium project in the Atacama region of Chile by Empresa Nacional de Minería (ENAMI), a state-owned Chilean mining company.

Rio Tinto has signed binding agreements with Chilean state-owned copper mining company Codelco to establish a joint venture (JV) to develop the Salar de Maricunga lithium project in Chile by investing up to $900m (£672.