SANTIAGO, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Chile's environmental

regulator has fined U.S. lithium producer Albemarle

about $4 million for violations related to brine over-extraction

and non-compliance with its early warning plan, the agency said

in a statement on Tuesday.

Albemarle is one of two companies, along with Chile's SQM,

that extracts the battery metal lithium from the Atacama salt

flat. The fine from the regulator, known as the SMA, stems from

charges it filed against Albemarle in 2022.