Fulin and two other corporate investors won a 2018 government auction for a coveted, 27-year supply of ultralight battery metal lithium. In exchange, the companies said they would build battery parts factories in the north Chilean desert.

But those plans began to fall apart last month, when South Korean steelmaker Posco said it was dropping out of a joint venture with electronics giant Samsung SDI to build a factory in Chile. The third winner, Chilean chemical company Molymet, has ditched its project as well.

(Reporting by Dave Sherwood; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)