Banchile auctions 1.5 mln shares in Chile’s SQM, raises $76 mln

SANTIAGO, April 20 (Reuters) – Brokerage firm Banchile on Friday auctioned 1.5 million series-A shares in Chile lithium miner SQM at a sale price of 30,000 pesos ($50.36) per share, raising a total of $76 million.

SQM, which operates primarily in Chile’s Salar de Atacama, is one of the world’s largest and most cost-efficient producers of lithium.

($1 = 595.70 Chilean pesos)

(Reporting by Felipe Iturrieta; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)