Chilean Lithium: Dirty Water War or Dirty Water War
Pollution resulting from metal extraction is not exclusive to artisanal mines, even if the opacity of their operation makes it difficult to identify those responsible. Industrial mines, widely represented in Latin America, are also responsible for many environmental and local population ills.
Chile, which alone concentrates 38% of lithium mines, faces many ecological and social problems caused by this mining activity.
Very irrigated, the extraction of lithium increases the aridity of the soils, which are already very arid in Chile. In addition to a massive pumping of water, it is also found to be heavily contaminated, which leads to “the disappearance of fragile endemic species“, specify the authors of a study published in 2020.
Lithium mining causes conflicts over water resources between several communities, including the Toconao in northern Chile.
“Friends of the Earth” report, 2013
This water pollution will lead to conflicts between local people who now have to fight for their (small) share. “In Chile’s Salar de Atacama, mining consumes, contaminates and diverts scarce water resources, at the expense of local communities. Lithium mining has caused conflicts over water resources, with several communities, including that of Toconao in the north of the country“, reads in a report of the NGO Friends of the Earth.
In addition to the environmental impact, mining will also destabilize the social and economic fabric of a region. As it uses multiple machines, it requires skilled labor for it.
This is mainly composed of immigrant workers from other regions of the country. “As they are paid better than the local average salary, the massive influx of these workers leads in particular to an increase in the price of real estate or basic necessities.” underlines Marie Forget, professor-researcher in Geography at the University of Savoie Mont Blanc.
