Inside lithium giant SQM s struggle to win over indigenous communities in Chile s Atacama
6 Min Read
SANTIAGO (Reuters) - SQM , the world’s No. 2 lithium producer, cut a deal with Chile in 2018 that allowed it to ramp up output from the Atacama, a remote and fragile desert salt flat whose indigenous inhabitants fear may be jeopardized by mining.
FILE PHOTO: An aerial view shows the brine pools and processing areas of the Soquimich (SQM) lithium mine on the Atacama salt flat, the world s second largest salt flat and the largest lithium deposit currently in production, with over a quarter of the world s known reserves, in the Atacama desert of northern Chile, January 10, 2013.REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado
6 Min Read
SANTIAGO (Reuters) - SQM , the world’s No. 2 lithium producer, cut a deal with Chile in 2018 that allowed it to ramp up output from the Atacama, a remote and fragile desert salt flat whose indigenous inhabitants fear may be jeopardized by mining.
FILE PHOTO: An aerial view shows the brine pools and processing areas of the Soquimich (SQM) lithium mine on the Atacama salt flat, the world s second largest salt flat and the largest lithium deposit currently in production, with over a quarter of the world s known reserves, in the Atacama desert of northern Chile, January 10, 2013.REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado