Chile Mines Lithium From Salt Flats Of Atacama Desert

SALAR DE ATACAMA, CHILE - AUGUST 24: Lithium-rich brine dries in an evaporation pond next to mounds of salt bi-product at a lithium mine in the Atacama Desert on August 24, 2022 in Salar de Atacama, Chile. Albemarle Corporation, based in Charlotte, N.C. is expanding mining operations at their Salar Plant to meet the rising global demand for lithium carbonate, a main component in the manufacture of batteries, increasingly for electric vehicles. To extract the lithium, natural brine is pumped from under the salt flats to a series of evaporation ponds. During an 18-month process, the liquid s moved through 15 ponds, eventually turning from blue to yellow with a lithium concentration of 6 percent. It is then trucked to an Albemarle chemical plant in Antofagasta, where it is processed into battery grade lithium carbonate powder and shipped out internationally. The evaporation process produces large quantities of salt byproduct, much of which is then reprocessed and sold. Chile is the second largest global producer of lithium, after Australia. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)