Mining for lithium in the Salar de Atacama: a controversial industry in one of the most rugged environments on Earth (Part 1)

Chile is the third world producer of lithium (27% of the global lithium production), an element essential to all battery-powered technologies. The non-metallic extraction takes place in the north of the country, in the gigantic Salar de Atacama (3000 km2), at 2500 m elevation. Millions of litres of lithium-rich brine are pumped everyday by two companies: SQM and Albemarle.

I met representatives of Albemarle at EXPONOR, a mining show which takes place in Antofagasta every June: “We produce lithium carbonate from the extraction of brine, which is pumped from the Salar de Atacama. A series of wells allow for the evaporation process, which lasts 18 months. At the end, we obtain a brine with a concentration of 6% lithium. This product is sent to our processing plant at La Negra, near Antofagasta. After a chemical process, we obtain lithium carbonate.”

“We are also currently testing a new process for direct lithium extraction. It consists in processing the brine through a series of filters, and capturing the lithium in a much faster and efficient way than via evaporation.

The advantage of this new process is that we would be able to return the brine we don’t need to the salar, after processing it chemically to make sure that its composition is similar to that of the salar. This way, we can be sure that the surrounding lagunas, which need to be protected, won’t be affected by the lithium extraction. This is part of our environmental obligations. This process is currently undergoing environmental evaluation.

However, this new process will be very costly for us. It requires a lot of energy, whereas the current process uses the free energy from the sun to evaporate the brines. The additional power will be provided by a high-tension powerline fed by multiple sources, including solar and thermoelectric plants."

A few weeks later, I had a discussion with Pamela, a resident of San Pedro de Atacama, where she works as a tourist guide. Several of her ancestors worked for the mining industry: salitreras, copper mines. She is also a proud Indigenous woman through her mother.

Pamela: “I have a conflicting relationship with mining. I was born in Chuquicamata, so I understand the value of mining, and how it provides work and sustenance for people. Many of my friends and family have pulled through thanks to their work in the mining industry. But then comes the ugly part. In the past 29 years, I have seen with my own eyes how all the lagunas have started to vanish since the lithium extraction has exploded. It is visible. Lithium extraction by evaporation dries out everything, it is very destructive. When I was a kid, there were thousands and thousands of flamingos in the lagunas. Today, we can see the water levels dropping almost on a daily basis, and the flamingos are much fewer. For me, the destruction of ecosystems associated with lithium extraction is very painful. It really hurts my soul (“me duele el alma”).”