Ivanhoe Electric and SQM Enter into Typhoon™ Driven Mineral Exploration and Collaboration Agreement in Chile to Explore for New Copper Deposits Beneath Electrically Resistive Caliche Ivanhoe Electric to Provide a New Generation Typhoon™
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January 27, 2026
Ivanhoe Electric and SQM Enter into Typhoon™ Driven Mineral
Exploration and Collaboration Agreement in Chile to Explore for
New Copper Deposits Beneath Electrically Resistive Caliche
Ivanhoe Electric to Provide a New Generation Typhoon™
Geophysical Survey System and Computational Geosciences’
Advanced Data Inversion Software
SQM to Provide Access to Prospective Caliche-covered Mining
Concessions on Major Copper Belts in Northern Chile
SQM to Fund at Least $9 Million for Exploration During the
Collaboration’s Initial Three-year Term
Ivanhoe Electric has the Option to form a 50/50 Joint Venture with
SQM Upon Making a Qualifying Copper Discovery
PHOENIX, ARIZONA – Ivanhoe Electric Inc. (“Ivanhoe Electric”) (NYSE American: IE;
TSX: IE) Executive Chairman Robert Friedland and President and Chief Executive
Officer Taylor Melvin are pleased to announce that Ivanhoe Electric has executed a
definitive Collaboration and Exploration Agreement (the “Collaboration”) with Sociedad
Química y Minera de Chile (“SQM”) (NYSE American: SQM; SSE: SQM-B, SQM-A) to
explore for copper in northern Chile. SQM is one of Chile’s largest and oldest mining
companies, with a market capitalization of approximately $24 billion. SQM is a world-
leader in the production of lithium, potassium nitrate, and iodine from its mining
operations in Chile, with one of the largest portfolios of mining concessions in the
country. SQM produces its potassium nitrate and iodine through the exploitation of vast
areas of caliche cover in the Atacama Desert. Caliche is a surface deposit of sediments
cemented by salts, making it highly electrically resistive and impeding the penetration
of low-power geophysical transmitters and their ability to detect underlying sulfide
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mineralization. Typhoon™ generates a powerful, clean electrical charge that can
penetrate the highly resistive caliche cover to detect potential copper deposits at depth.
The Collaboration establishes the framework for Ivanhoe Electric and SQM to explore
certain of SQM’s mining concessions, comprising a total of 2,002 km2. Through a jointly
run technical committee, the Collaboration will use Ivanhoe Electric’s Typhoon™
geophysical surveying system and Computational Geosciences Inc.’s (“CGI”) data
inversion software to search for qualifying copper deposits during an initial three-year
term. A “Qualifying Copper Deposit” is defined in the Collaboration as any deposit with
the potential for at least one million tonnes of contained copper or copper equivalent,
as determined by an independent geologist.
The Collaboration will be funded by SQM with an initial commitment of $9 million. Upon
identifying a Qualifying Copper Deposit, Ivanhoe Electric will have the option to acquire
a 50% interest in the deposit and form a 50/50 joint venture with SQM by paying a price
equal to twice SQM’s exploration expenditures to date. The exercise price will be paid to
a new joint venture company and used for further exploration and other related
activities. Upon the formation of a joint venture, SQM will contribute the relevant mining
concessions and associated exploration data. Thereafter, the joint venture will be
funded pro rata by each of Ivanhoe Electric and SQM.
Mr. Friedland commented: “We are proud to partner with SQM, one of Chile’s great
mining champions, to deploy our disruptive Typhoon™ and CGI technologies across
northern Chile, one of the world’s most prolific copper regions. Vast areas of electrically
resistive caliche conceal enormous geological potential beneath the surface. Our
Typhoon™ and CGI platform is uniquely capable of seeing through that cover to
illuminate what other technologies cannot. Chile has supplied the world with copper for
generations, and as demand accelerates, we believe the next wave of world-class
copper discoveries will be found hidden beneath these large areas of caliche.”
Mr. Melvin commented: “SQM’s highly prospective mineral concessions and Ivanhoe
Electric’s powerful exploration technologies are a perfect combination to search for
large-scale copper discoveries in Chile. Working with SQM to deploy our Typhoon™
and CGI technologies in one of the world’s most important copper-producing regions
underscores the confidence in our exploration platform and the capabilities of our team.
We are excited to work together with SQM to define our initial exploration programs and
begin the systematic search for new copper discoveries in Chile.”
Pablo Altimiras, SQM’s Chief Executive Officer of Iodine & Plant Nutrition Division, said:
“This Collaboration with Ivanhoe Electric provides SQM with the technology platform to
allow the exploration of caliche-covered mining areas, which by their nature are tough
to explore using traditional exploration methods. Our exceptional location for copper
deposits, exploration expertise, logistics network, and operational footprint provide the
perfect foundation to deploy these advanced geophysical capabilities. We are confident
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that this synergy will allow us to unlock the immense potential of our mining
concessions and accelerate the discovery of the critical minerals essential for the
global energy transition.”
The Ivanhoe Electric and SQM Collaboration will explore for copper deposits
through the challenging caliche cover of the Atacama Desert
The Collaboration will use Ivanhoe Electric’s Typhoon™ surveying and CGI software
technologies to advance exploration on mining concessions largely concealed beneath
post-mineral caliche and sedimentary cover. These caliche covered concessions are
located on major porphyry copper and polymetallic manto belts in the Atacama Desert
and near some of the largest copper mines in the world (Figure 1).
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Figure 1: SQM mining concessions made available for the Collaboration and known
copper deposits.
Note: Known copper deposits include reserves & resources from the most recent year
available. Source: S&P Global Market Intelligence, 2025.
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Typhoon™ is the brand name for Ivanhoe Electric’s proprietary electrical geophysical
surveying transmitter. Typhoon™ achieves its results through its unique specifications,
which include a current output of up to 200 amps and a voltage output of up to 10,000
volts. The transmitter uses switches and capacitance systems which generate an
exceptionally pure and stable transmitted signal, resulting in an extremely high signal-
to-noise ratio.
Typhoon™ was originally developed by Ivanhoe Electric’s former parent I-Pulse Inc. to
unlock exploration in areas where potential sulfide mineral deposits are hidden by
cover, where target depths exceed the range of conventional geophysical surveying
systems, and in environments that have highly resistive surface conditions (such as
caliche) (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Typhoon™ and Computational Geosciences Inc.’s advantage in mineral
exploration.
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Key terms of the Collaboration
The Collaboration and Exploration Agreement signed today includes the following key
terms:
• SQM commits $9 million to fund joint exploration during an initial three-year term.
• A joint Technical Committee will collaboratively develop work programs and
budgets over the Collaboration’s 2,002 km2 of available mining concessions.
• Ivanhoe Electric will operate all mutually approved Typhoon™ surveying across
the available mining concessions, with each surveyed area becoming a
designated Typhoon™ exploration area. All data inversions will be performed by
CGI.
• SQM will operate mutually approved drill programs within a designated
Typhoon™ exploration area, leveraging its local expertise and resources, once
drill targets have been identified.
• If a designated Typhoon™ exploration area demonstrates the potential for more
than one million tonnes of copper (or copper equivalent) as determined by an
independent geologist, then Ivanhoe Electric has the option to form a 50/50 joint
venture over the designated Typhoon™ exploration area.
• In order to exercise its option, Ivanhoe Electric will be required to pay twice the
total exploration expenditures funded by SQM to the date of the option exercise.
The option exercise price will be paid to the joint venture to further exploration
activities.
• The Collaboration will be governed by a Management Committee and Technical
Committee, composed of an equal number of members from Ivanhoe Electric and
SQM.
• Ivanhoe Electric is not required to provide any funding prior to the formation of a
50/50 joint venture.
• At the end of the Collaboration, all mining concessions and exploration data not
contributed to a new joint venture will remain the property of SQM.
If a joint venture is formed, it will be initially governed by a Board of Directors with
equal representation from Ivanhoe Electric and SQM. The joint venture will continue
exploration activities on the designated Typhoon™ exploration area transferred to the
joint venture with the goal of advancing the project through to a development decision
and future commercial production.
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The joint venture will be funded on a pro rata basis, and subject to a customary dilution
formula. Both parties have agreed not to transfer their shares in the joint venture before
the earlier of a first mineral resource estimate and the fifth anniversary of the
establishment of the joint venture company. Each of Ivanhoe Electric and SQM will be
entitled to its proportional share of any future production from the project. Following
any future development decisions, SQM will also have the option to operate the joint
venture provided it holds at least 50% of the equity in the joint venture. SQM is also
entitled to appoint the General Manager of the joint venture.
Photo 1. SQM and Ivanhoe Electric personnel observing an active Ivanhoe Electric
Typhoon™ survey in the United States.
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About Ivanhoe Electric
We are a United States domiciled minerals exploration company with a focus on
developing mines from mineral deposits principally located in the United States. We
seek to support American supply chain independence by finding and delivering copper
and other critical metals vital to advanced manufacturing, infrastructure development,
technology, and national security. We use our powerful Typhoon™ geophysical
surveying system, together with advanced data analytics provided by our 94.3% owned
subsidiary, Computational Geosciences Inc. (“CGI”), to accelerate and de-risk the
mineral exploration process as we seek to discover new deposits of critical metals that
may otherwise be undetectable by traditional exploration technologies. We believe the
United States is significantly underexplored and has the potential to yield major new
discoveries of critical metals. Our mineral exploration efforts focus on copper as well as
other metals including nickel, cobalt, platinum group elements, gold and silver. Through
the advancement of our portfolio of critical metals exploration projects, headlined by
the Santa Cruz Copper Project in Arizona we intend to contribute to domestic supply by
developing resources that support industrial and strategic sectors. We also operate a
50/50 joint venture with Saudi Arabian Mining Company ("Maaden") to explore for
minerals on ~48,500 km2 of underexplored Arabian Shield in Saudi Arabia. In 2024, we
established an exploration alliance with BHP Mineral Resources Inc. (“BHP”), a
subsidiary of BHP Group Limited, to search for critical minerals in the United States.
Website: www.ivanhoeelectric.com
About SQM
SQM is a global company that is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the
Santiago Stock Exchange (NYSE: SQM; Santiago Stock Exchange: SQM-B, SQM-A).
SQM develops and produces diverse products for several industries essential for
human progress, such as health, nutrition, renewable energy and technology through
innovation and technological development. SQM aims to maintain its leading
world position in the lithium, potassium nitrate, and iodine markets as well as growing
into new business opportunities where it can add value, such as the exploration
activities that the company will be pursuing alongside with Ivanhoe Electric.
Website: www.sqm.com
Contact Information
Mike Patterson
Vice President, Investor Relations and Business Development
Email: [email protected]