One of the things we wanted to document on our journey to Brazil was the so-called "lithium triangle", a region in the Andean altiplano that straddles Argentina, Bolivia and Chile, and which contains (depending on the source) 70% to 85% of the world's reserves of this mineral. (1)
Lithium is very present in the batteries of our mobile phones, computers and electric cars and we wanted to know a little more about this metal which, we are often told, heralds a new industrial revolution (2). As the next COP is due to take place in Glasgow, Scotland, we could have made a photographic link between the first industrial revolution (3) that took place in the UK and the possible fourth one that would be electric (after coal, oil and nuclear). (2)
Unfortunately, because of the Covid 19 epidemic, we were only able to document (and quickly!) the Chilean part where one of the largest lithium deposits in the world is located, in the Atacama Salar located in the most arid desert on the planet.
With the help of a compatriot we met in San Pedro de Atacama (thanks again Julie!), we went to the entrance of the mine operated by the American chemical company Albemarle and the company SQM (Chilean Chemical and Mining Company), which recently saw the arrival of Chinese capital. (1)
Of course, a guard kindly turned us away and we could not go any further to understand and document the process: the lithium-rich brine is pumped from the bottom of the lake and exposed to the sun in pools where, after evaporation, concentrations of lithium are obtained that will be transformed into lithium carbonate usable for batteries. (4)
Also, in San Pedro, we met members of the NGO "Atacama somos todos", which fights to "protect the environment and the sustainable development of all the inhabitants of the Salar" (5) and that the Atacama does not become a new "sacrificed zone" of the country (see the report: Chile after the COP).
Together with representatives of this association we took screenshots of the SQM pools, and photographed the large protest banner they held up during the International Mining Fair in Antofagasta in 2019. (6)
Although the Chileans had warned us, in San Pedro de Atacama we were extremely impressed by the number of tourists from all over the world who were visiting the village. In order to better understand this phenomenon, we joined a group for a morning bus ride to the Tatio Geyser, one of the tourist attractions, with one of the many travel agencies in the village.
We should have done some in-depth work on the impact of mining, on the local population and on the environment, but the coronavirus greatly hindered our plans.
To find out more about the subject you can read these articles:
https://www.liberation.fr/planete/2019/06/07/chili-le-salar-s-alarme-du-boom-du-lithium_1732511/
https://www.rfi.fr/es/americas/20191208-el-litio-el-oro-blanco-que-amenaza-al-salar-de-atacama
https://www.rfi.fr/fr/podcasts/20200224-lithium-carburant-avenir
https://www.latribune.fr/opinions/blogs/commodities-influence/lithium-la-premiere-victime-de-la-revolution-verte-est-chinoise-838381.html
https://www.rfi.fr/fr/emission/20190613-lithium-le-futur-contrat-lme-fait-remous-salars
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salar_d%27Atacama
https://blogs.mediapart.fr/julien-armijo/blog/220317/salar-datacama-chili-alerte-ecologique-des-habitants-sur-la-minerie-de-lithium
(1) : https://www.capital.fr/entreprises-marches/lithium-le-chinois-tianqi-renforce-sa-position-avec-un-deal-geant-au-chili-1288724
(2) : https://www.lefigaro.fr/conjoncture/2018/05/25/20002-20180525ARTFIG00017-la-route-du-lithium.php
(3) : https://www.futura-sciences.com/sciences/questions-reponses/epoque-contemporaine-eu-lieu-premiere-revolution-industrielle-5444/
(4) : https://www.liberation.fr/planete/2019/06/07/chili-le-salar-s-alarme-du-boom-du-lithium_1732511/
(5) : https://www.facebook.com/Atacamasomostodos.ong/
(6) : https://regionalista.cl/dos-personas-detenidas-tras-manifestacion-contra-la-contaminacion-en-la-inauguracion-de-exponor/
(7) : https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Tatio
(All these links were accessed on 24 March 2021)
One of the things we wanted to document on our journey to Brazil was the so-called "lithium triangle", a region in the Andean altiplano that straddles Argentina, Bolivia and Chile, and which contains (depending on the source) 70% to 85% of the world's reserves of this mineral. (1)
Lithium is very present in the batteries of our mobile phones, computers and electric cars and we wanted to know a little more about this metal which, we are often told, heralds a new industrial revolution (2). As the next COP is due to take place in Glasgow, Scotland, we could have made a photographic link between the first industrial revolution (3) that took place in the UK and the possible fourth one that would be electric (after coal, oil and nuclear). (2)
Unfortunately, because of the Covid 19 epidemic, we were only able to document (and quickly!) the Chilean part where one of the largest lithium deposits in the world is located, in the Atacama Salar located in the most arid desert on the planet.
With the help of a compatriot we met in San Pedro de Atacama (thanks again Julie!), we went to the entrance of the mine operated by the American chemical company Albemarle and the company SQM (Chilean Chemical and Mining Company), which recently saw the arrival of Chinese capital. (1)