Well 'buddy', here's this from Decree 16 which outlines the requirements and conditions of obtaining a special operating contract for the exploitation of lithium.
c) That, in turn, Law No. 18,097, Organic Constitutional Law on Mining Concessions, provides that lithium is not susceptible to mining concessions.
d) That, likewise, the Political Constitution provides, in the tenth paragraph of No. 24 of article 19, that the exploration, exploitation and benefit of deposits containing substances not susceptible of mining concession, may be executed directly by the State or by their companies or by means of administrative concessions or special operating contracts, with the requirements and under the conditions that the President of the Republic sets, for each case, by supreme decree.
Now I haven't read the full decree in some time, but I certainly do not remember there being any other methods of obtaining a CEOL other than through a Presidential Decree.
