JANUARY 2023 - LITHIUM PRODUCTION IN CHILE AND ARGENTINA: INVERTED ROLES

Chile’s the Cordillera de la Sal (Salt Moun- production comes from only one tains), volcanoes, the sandy dunes source: the Salar de Atacama, in of the Valle de la Muerte and flamin- the north, home to the largest lithi- go-filled lagoons. [...] It consists of 15 um reserves in the world, 9.2 million evaporation ponds on 41,000 acres tonnes.4 Chile is the world’s largest of the driest land in the world, ideal lithium producer from brines, and the for producing lithium. [...] The con- flats, the Salar del Hombre Muerto in centrate is then trucked to the com- the province of Catamarca and the pany’s La Negra processing plant Salar Olaroz in Jujuy. [...] Nevertheless, the ing a project in the Salar Centenario LITHIUM PRODUCTION IN CHILE AND ARGENTINA: INVERTED ROLES 3 LATIN AMERICAN PROGRAM Quevar Volcano, Salta Province, Argentina Ratones in the province of Salta. [...] “As in Chile, however, the future of Argentina’s lithium industry will depend upon the develop- ment of more environmentally friendly production methods.” In Argentina, economic and political turbulence will likely continue in the run-up to the October 2023 presi- dential elections.