"Patchwork quilt" in the Chilean desert is a key source of global electronics

The international energy Agency (IEA) predicts that the number of electric vehicles will grow from 3 million in 2018 to $ 125 million by 2030. This means that the desert of South America will be completely covered with "patchwork quilt" of evaporation ponds is the main source of lithium.

Manufacturers of electric vehicles, laptops, smartphones and other gadgets, are often used for their lithium batteries. This alkali metal is also used in ceramics, glass, industrial lubricants and medicines. The Chilean salt flat the Salar de Atacama is a closed basin with no drainage holes — contains 29% of the world's reserves of lithium, being the largest source. The neighboring areas in Bolivia and Argentina also have large reserves.

While the surface of the salt flat and almost always dry below the surface of an ancient seabed hides saturated with lithium salt solution. Melting snow from the nearby mountains and hydrothermal fluids associated with volcanic activity, which naturally replenish the aquifer.

The company pumped the brine to the surface and distribute it through a network of channels in a shallow evaporative pools, lined with plastic. Thanks to dry, Sunny and windy weather in the region of the brine evaporates, leaving salt deposits of lithium and other. Tanker carrying concentrated lithium to processing plants near the port city of Antofagasta.

The Landsat-8 image of the evaporation ponds on 4 November. Color variations due to different concentrations of salt in water: light blue pools, the concentration of lithium is highest. The network of channels and hundreds of pumps around form net patterns.

As demand for lithium grows, the number of such ponds in the Salar de Atacama region increases with time. As a result, concerns and conflicts related to the volume of groundwater used by companies.

Translated by «Yandex.Translator»