EXCLUSIVE: World’s top lithium miner Albemarle seeks to monitor water scarcity in parched Chile salt flat
SANTIAGO - With residents and courts ringing the alarm about depleted water supplies in Chile’s Atacama salt flat, the world’s top lithium miner Albemarle quietly filed a proposal in December for a network to monitor flows beneath the parched desert floor.
Car companies have ratcheted up scrutiny in the Atacama, by far the biggest source of supply in South America’s so-called “lithium triangle,” where one lithium producer is locked in a court battle over pumping of brine and a copper miner has opted for pricey desalination over drawing water from local aquifers.
A source at Volkswagen, who asked not to be named, confirmed a recent trip had been made to Chile to check on local conditions. The carmaker declined to comment. The battle for water in Chile’s salt flats has intensified. Residents and environmental groups worry that mining of lithium and copper is damaging a regional ecosystem home to an ancient indigenous culture and turquoise lagoons inhabited with rare pink Chilean flamingos.
A government study intended to provide similar information has been repeatedly delayed since 2018, leaving a void. A spokeswoman for Chile development agency Corfo, which is managing that process, said the report was nearing completion.Salt-rich brine holds in suspension the lithium that automakers covet. Miners use freshwater beneath the flats for industrial processes. Both water and brine are scarce commodities in the world´s driest desert.
Rival SQM’s operations are also in limbo after a plan to lessen its environmental impact was thrown out by judges who said a green light from regulators had relied on junk science and warned about a “high level of scientific uncertainty” about the behavior of the Atacama’s water table.Lenny-Pessagno said Albemarle’s near-term focus would be developing technologies to extract more lithium from the brine it already had permits for.
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