Last week, Chile announced plans to bring the country’s vast reserves of lithium under government ownership. In a speech last Thursday, Chile’s new left-wing president, Gabriel Boric — who, at 37, is among the youngest world leaders — directed Codelco, the state copper mining company, to draft a plan for a government-owned lithium company, for which his administration would seek approval from the National Congress later this year. The proposal calls for phasing out the Chilean industry’s use of a process called brining, which involves collecting lithium from evaporated pools in the desert