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Chile's Atacama salt flat is sinking at a rate of 1 to 2 centimeters (0.4 to 0.8 inches) per year due to lithium brine extraction, according to a study by the University of Chile. The study used ...
Chile's millennial president, Gabriel Boric, promised to mine differently. When Boric announced his ambitious plan in April to take state control over the country's lithium industry and expand ...
The lithium extraction process in Salar de Atacama begins with salty brine being pumped out of the ground and then put to rest in evaporation ponds so the remaining brine is slowly enriched in lithium. The evaporation pond stage takes usually 12 to 18 months which is the time it takes for it to reach a lithium concentration of 6%. [24]
Typical commercial lithium concentrations are between 200 and 1,400 mg/L (1.4 g/L). The largest operations are in the shallow brine beneath the Salar de Atacama dry lakebed in Chile, which as of 2015 yielded about a third of the world's supply. The brine operations are primarily for potassium; extraction of lithium as a byproduct began in 1997 ...
There is some capacity to convert the carbonate to lithium hydroxide in Salar de Carmen. 2019 revenues from lithium were $505mio. [13] In 2021, the lithium revenues were US$936.1 million. [15] The process involves pumping up lithium rich brine from below the ground into shallow pans. Water is evaporated thanks to the strong sun and dry air. [16]
There are concerns that lithium producers are drawing too much lithium-rich brine, or saltwater, from pools beneath the Atacama, the world's driest desert. A water fight in Chile's Atacama raises ...
Northern Chile forms part of the Lithium Triangle with substantial reserves in the form of brine. The explosive growth in electric vehicles since 2015 has triggered increased demand. Chile is the main producer of lithium from brine. [14] Until 2017, when it was surpassed by Australia, Chile was the over-all main producer of lithium. [15]
The protest underscored a serious challenge to a plan by Chile, the No. 2 lithium producer, to impose more state control over the metal needed for batteries used to power the world's growing ...