![\"dry](\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/dry-trapiche-river-bed_Hombre-Muerto-salt-flat_Catamarca_Argentina_Paula-Gaido_Ruido.jpg\")
<\/div>Ruido\u2019s trip to the Salar de Hombre Muerto was part of an investigation coordinated by the Latin American Center for Investigative Journalism (El CLIP), together with Dialogue Earth, N\u00f3madas from Bolivia, CIPER from Chile, and master\u2019s students from Columbia University in New York. Amid increasing interest in the mineral for its essential role in global energy transitions, this team set out to investigate the other side of lithium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>Together with Bolivia and Chile, Argentina forms part of the so-called \u201cLithium Triangle\u201d, the area hosting 53%<\/a> of the world\u2019s identified lithium resources. Although most of the mining projects in the region are still in pre-exploitation stages, at sites that have been operating for a number of years, the environmental damage caused by lithium extraction is already visible, as this investigation witnessed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a>In Argentina, it is the dried up plains beside the Trapiche River that have felt this the most, while in Chile, academic researchers recorded<\/a> how areas of the Salar de Atacama most exposed to lithium mining have sunk by up to two centimetres in recent years due to groundwater depletion, driven by the mineral\u2019s water-intensive process of extraction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Atacame\u00f1os del Altiplano is one of the Indigenous community groups that have organised to protect other rivers in northern Argentina from similar risks linked to lithium mining. A few months ago they won a victory in that battle: the Supreme Court of Catamarca ruled that<\/a> lithium mining had damaged the river and halted the industry\u2019s expansion close to another stream in the province, Los Patos, until it can be verified that it will not suffer the same fate as the Trapiche.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As he drives, Alfredo tells us of the group\u2019s history of opposition to lithium projects. \u201cAt the beginning, the roadblocks [set by protestors to prevent access to mining sites] were due to labour issues, but we also saw that a lot of water was being consumed, that the valley was drying up,\u201d he says. \u201cWe spoke to the manager, we made complaints, but nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He continues by telling us of the Condor\u00ed family, who used to live on the edge of the valley, raising sheep and more than 300 llamas. Now, he says, they have only eight llamas, and can no longer raise animals without the same access to water. \u201cThey are going to have to leave,\u201d he laments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For his wife, Elizabeth Mamani, also an Atacame\u00f1os activist, \u201clithium means technological progress\u201d, but also \u201cdeath in the future, because we know that there is a lot of environmental disaster because of this exploitation, a lot of drought and losses. It makes economic sense for the population, but for me it means nothing but destruction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2023, Argentina exported USD 835 million<\/a> of lithium, representing 20.8% of the country\u2019s mining exports, according to mining secretariat data shared with reporters. Over 40%<\/a> of this lithium is sold to China, where it is used to produce the batteries that power electric cars, but also mobile phones and computers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Arcadium Mining\u2019s F\u00e9nix project at the Salar del Hombre Muerto is Argentina\u2019s largest lithium mine. Last year, it generated 22,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate, almost half of the 50,000 tonnes produced in the country, according to government data. The other three mines currently producing lithium are Centenario Ratones in Salta province, and Cauchari-Olaroz and Olaroz in Jujuy province. A fifth, Sal de Oro, located between Catamarca and Salta, is about to begin production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Fenix project was originally managed by Livent, but the US-owned company merged in early 2024<\/a> with Australia\u2019s Allkem to create Arcadium Lithium, which was itself bought out<\/a> by British-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto this October. Rio Tinto is now set to rank as the world\u2019s third largest lithium producer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a>Argentina is the fourth largest lithium producer<\/a> globally, behind Australia, Chile and China, but its reserve potential is even greater. Argentina has some 40 projects in preliminary stages that could reach production in the short term. Since President Javier Milei took office in December 2023, his government has sought to promote new legislation that motivates the disbursement of capital for mining projects through tax, customs and financial benefits that allow, for example, the liquidation of all dividends shortly after a project enters operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSince Milei took over as president, there have been constant enquiries from mining companies because they perceived a change in the business climate. We are receiving calls from embassies, and also from the provinces, asking about lithium,\u201d said a source at the country\u2019s National Mining Secretariat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In March 2024, the Supreme Court of Catamarca ordered the provincial government to refrain from granting new permits for mining activity in the Los Patos stream area, until a \u201ccumulative and comprehensive\u201d environmental impact study has been carried out. One of the arguments cited in the court ruling is the negative impact mining has hadon the Trapiche valley. The case came following an environmental appeal filed in 2021 by Rom\u00e1n Guitian, the leader of the Atacame\u00f1os del Altiplano community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is the area where Arcadium intends to expand its lithium extraction, as part of the Sal de Vida project, just a few kilometres east of the Trapiche River. The company acquired the project when its first owner, Australian miner Galaxy Lithium, merged into Allkem, which later became part of Arcadium. The court requested that the study should cover \u201cthe landscape, the fauna and flora of the area, the climate and the environment in general, as well as the living conditions of the local inhabitants and the affected Indigenous community\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During the visit to the area, our journalists were able to observe how the dried-up section of the Trapiche River used to reach the Arcadium plant, where the water would enter the mining facilities to be used in the lithium extraction process. Now, the company appears to have built a barrier near the point where the river dries up, which stores the incoming water. From there, it is transported to the plant through a pipeline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Arcadium\u2019s predecessor, Livent, has accepted that there have been changes to the ecosystem of the Salar del Hombre Muerto, but says these are reversible. \u201cOne of the most important conclusions drawn from our modelling work in the Trapiche aquifer is that the effects on water resources are reversible and that the estimated timeframe for recovery to pre-development conditions is 10 years after the cessation of mining,\u201d Livent said in its sustainability report<\/a> from 2022, when it oversaw the facility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The company also argued that they provide the only economic activity in a largely unpopulated area. \u201cLess than 20 people live within a 60-kilometre radius of the facility, and the nearest town is almost two hours\u2019 drive away. Unlike other salt flats, there are no other industries in the Salar de Hombre Muerto, and the harsh environment generated by the altitude prevents commercial agriculture and livestock farming,\u201d it claimed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During the trip, reporters noted other changes in the course of the Trapiche, since in some of these upstream stretches, the riverbed had been lined with plastic, not allowing the water to run off into the ground or towards the banks, presumably to achieve a higher flow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt is a very important alteration to the ecosystem and to the possibility of fish or algal life, which are essential for it to function,\u201d said biologist Cecilia Estrabou, director of the Centre for Ecology and Renewable Natural Resources of the National University of C\u00f3rdoba. \u201cBut this can also lead to a significant production of microplastics, which the world is fighting very hard against. Putting it in a river \u2013 from which animals and plants surely drink \u2013 is a detrimental alteration for the food webs, on the one hand, and for the use of water by living organisms,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Arcadium did not respond to questions regarding the plastic linings in the river. An official spokesperson for the Ministry of Mining of Catamarca did, however, and said that these were \u201cchannelling works designed to minimise percolation and evaporation of water, optimising its collection and storage in the Trapiche dam reservoir, which allows for a more efficient use of water resources.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Several kilometres east of the lithium extraction plant, herds of vicu\u00f1as and flamingos drink from Los Patos stream, still wide and majestic despite the visible traces of a once much larger watercourse. On the sides, seven containers protect the boreholes and pumps that draw water from the basin, extending many metres below. There are no signs to tell which of the nearby mining companies they belong to. One of the big questions is, as with the Trapiche River, whether this stream could also dry up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI would like them to record the flow of Los Patos so that there is a record of what it will be like tomorrow,\u201d says the activist Morales. \u201cOur community has opposed the damage to the river.\u201d He points to the large number of birds and wild animals here as a cause for concern as mining advances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Environment and Natural Resources Foundation (FARN), an Argentine NGO and one of the organisations promoting the legal cases to defend the salt flat\u2019s ecosystems, has claimed<\/a> that in the Salar del Hombre Muerto, more specifically in the area of Los Patos, the government of Catamarca did not carry out \u201can environmental impact assessment that contemplates the cumulative effects of these initiatives\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLocal communities are affected by lithium mining in their territory and environment, as well as in their basic rights such as access to information, participation, free, prior and informed consent, and access to justice,\u201d said Leandro G\u00f3mez, coordinator of the investments and rights programme of FARN\u2019s environmental policy area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alfredo Morales is not sure if the ruling that prohibits \u2013 for now \u2013 the expansion of mining projects into the Los Patos River is a triumph. He says he distrusts the judiciary, and all powerful actors. Nor is his wife, Elizabeth Mamani, a member of Atacame\u00f1os, optimistic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe court ruling is a strong advantage that sets an important precedent in the struggle to defend water, but at the same time I feel that with this justice system, and the way we are, they are going to continually fence off our territories,\u201d said Mamani.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No further details on the publication of the study requested by the court have yet emerged. The spokesperson of the Catamarca government did not comment on the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n FARN argues<\/a> that the extraction of brines for lithium mining can cause an imbalance in the hydrology of the salar<\/em>: freshwater reserves become salinised and affect the availability and quality of freshwater in the basin. Once this happens, the water leaves the system and is never recovered with the same conditions and characteristics, the organisation reports. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In their studies<\/a> in other similar ecosystems, FARN has found that \u201cthe impacts of climatic and ecological crises are already being felt in high altitude wetlands, increasing the pressures that naturally characterise them, such as their extreme aridity, high evaporation and solar radiation rates, and the permanent natural water deficit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Livent\u2019s 2022 sustainability report \u2013 the most recent that is publicly available, and the only resource sent by the company following requests for comment on this article \u2013 the mining company claims the opposite. That is, that the effects of lithium mining are reversible and that the company uses very little of the water that flows in nearby streams: just 2%, it claims. They reported that they work with external specialists to ensure that \u201cthe extraction of water and brine is carried out at a rate that maintains the natural balance of this ecosystem\u201d, and that this is monitored by the provincial government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The company said that together with the EcoConciencia Foundation<\/a>, an environmental NGO that works on social and environmental conflicts, and residents of the region, they are carrying out environmental tasks such as replanting trees, improving irrigation systems, and monitoring and tracking species in the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a>Rodolfo Tarraubella, president of EcoConciencia, said they only began working with Livent in 2021, organising meetings and collaborating to transplant 25,000 plants. \u201cFrom then on we only helped a little. The company provided its own people to monitor and follow up.\u201d He clarified that the organisation does not receive money from Arcadium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The roughly 2,000 inhabitants<\/a> of Antofagasta largely live in conditions worse than those in the mining camps run by companies in the salar<\/em>. They have no access to the natural gas network, suffer almost daily power cuts, running only on generators, and water is scarce in the summer months. Mayor Mario Cusipuma, who took office at the beginning of 2024, says he has focused his early efforts on introducing a new municipal tax code, with which he wants companies to pay more local taxes and to see the \u201cspillover\u201d of mining resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In its 2022 sustainability report, Livent reported revenues of USD 813.2 million and a gross profit of USD 366.7 million, excluding discounts for taxes, depreciation and debt repayments. The company says it has invested USD 2.8 million in the community in Catamarca, in programmes focused on health, nutrition, education, training, quality of life, climate action and local development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a>At the beginning of 2024, there were 2,968 workers hired by mining companies in lithium projects in the provinces of Salta, Catamarca and Jujuy, according to records of the Ministry of Economy accessed for this investigation. This represents less than 1.5% of the 184,000 public employees in the three provinces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Lithium-Argentina-2048x1080-1-scaled.jpg\")
<\/div>The Livent mine<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Legal rulings on lithium<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"aerial](\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/dam-pipeline_dry-trapiche-river-bed_Hombre-Muerto-salt-flat_Catamarca_Argentina_Paula-Gaido_Ruido.jpg\")
<\/div>![\"narrow](\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/riverbed-lined-with-plastic_Trapiche-river_Hombre-Muerto-salt-flat_Catamarca_Argentina_Paula-Gaido_Ruido-2.jpg\")
<\/div>Los Patos, a risk area<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"vicu\u00f1a](\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/vicuna-Los-Patos-river_Catamarca_Argentina_Paula-Gaido_Ruido.jpg\")
<\/div>The impacts discussion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"billboard](\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Livent-Arcadium-signage-Restauration_Trapiche-river_Catamarca_Argentina_Paula-Gaido_Ruido.jpg\")
<\/div>Economic alternatives<\/h2>\n\n\n\n