Chilean government selects six “priority areas” for private lithium extraction projects

In late September, the Chilean government – led by President Gabriel Boric – announced that it had selected six “priority areas” for the creation of new lithium mining projects led by private companies.

Chile is the second largest global producer of lithium: an essential component of batteries that power digital devices, electric vehicles, some medical devices and other important pieces of technology.

The government has said it will begin consultation with indigenous communities living in six “priority areas” this month. However, there have long been complaints from indigenous and local communities about the health and environmental effects created by the industries.

Lithium mining in the Atacama desert

One region particularly affected by lithium mining is the salt flats of the Atacama Desert, which is shrinking at a rate of one to two centimeters (0.4 to 0.8 inches) per year as a result. The region is home to the indigenous Atacameño people, also known as Likan Antai. According to a 2002 Chilean census, there were 21,015 Atacameño individuals living in Chile.

Sergio Chamorroa lawyer for the Council of the Atacameño People and director of the National Federation of Urban Residents, spoke to Latin American Reports about the serious effects suffered by local populations living near lithium mining and other mining sites.

Sergio Chamorro. Image credit: Facebook

Chamorro, who is also a member of an environmental advocacy group in the Atacama desert-based city of Calama, explained that lithium mining uses large amounts of water in “very desert and dry” areas, adding that the water source is managed by communities that have lived in these regions for up to 11,000 years and are therefore even “older than the state of Chile”.

He added that the establishment of six new lithium mining sites is worrying because these sites will “multiply the problems” within the saline drainage basins due to faulty hydrological modeling of the territory. He added that while the state and mining companies have their own perceptions of how saline drainage basins work, the “territorial” and “ancestral” knowledge that local communities have about the land means they have understood that the current hydrological conditions The modeling currently used for mining “does not and cannot be adapted to reality”.

Chamorro is concerned that new lithium mining sites “will eventually be subject to exploration and exploitation” as a result of the government’s National Lithium Strategy. He believes there is a lack of understanding of how these salt marsh ecosystems work.

Efforts to make lithium mining cleaner and more sustainable

Asked if he was confident the Chilean government would properly consult indigenous communities whose territories would be affected by new lithium mining sites, Chamorro stressed that, as a lawyer, he does not represent any indigenous community and that he cannot pretend to be their spokesperson. However, he explained that it is a “very important” step that the Chilean government has recognized the need to respect the International Labor Organization’s Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, which requires indigenous people to be consulted on developments that may affect their lives. or their territory.

CleanTech Lithium, a company that seeks to be a leading supplier of “green” lithium and claims to be “socially minded” and “environmentally driven,” is currently planning a lithium project in Laguna Verde, in the desert region Atacama. The project has been given “priority” by the Chilean government, but Chamorro and other environmental activists believe “there is no such thing as sustainable mining”.

Lithium is usually extracted through evaporation ponds, which is a long and water-intensive process that can damage the natural environment and the communities living in the surroundings. Companies like CleanTech Lithium, which are exploring greener options, claim that “Direct Lithium Mining” can be a viable alternative. However, Chamorro says there is “no scientific certainty” about the harm that could be caused by this “unknown” extraction method.

If lithium mining doesn’t stop, Chamorro fears that areas across Chile could see tragedies similar to the “irreparable environmental damage” suffered by the Punta Negra salt flats in northern Chile, where water levels dropped dramatically as a result of excessive extraction of water from the copper. mining company Minera Escondida. Chamorro says that copper mining in Punta Negra led to the death of various flora and fauna in the area.

Copper mining has had serious effects elsewhere, including in Calama, where the pollution created by the industry has caused serious health problems. Chamorro says that cancer is currently the leading cause of death in the city due to pollution, and that doctors belonging to organizations such as the Medical College of Chile have declared that there should be an “oncology alert” for the Calama community.

Regarding community action against lithium mining and extraction, Chamorro explains that the inhabitants of the Atacama desert region “disperse and express themselves through different forms”, adding that they are a “dialogue people” who seek to engage in conversations with the state as as well as mining and extraction companies.

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