Extractivism and its socio-environmental impact in South America. Overview of the “lithium triangle”
10.13125/americacritica/4926
This article aims to give an overview of the socio-environmental impacts of the extractive process in South America. Half of all lithium reserves on the planet are located between Chile, Argentina and Bolivia, the so-called “lithium triangle”. Lands where the transformation process is often opposed by local organizations that attempt a dialectic of negotiation/resistance of a territory harming communities and damaging fragile ecosystems. The exploitation of local water resources caused by the mining process has a strong impact on ancestral territories. Water resources are contaminated, diverted and consumed by the lithium mining process causing conflicts and exacerbating the long process of expropriation of local communities. The displacement of populations, forced by the intensive development of mining activities, leaves the population in a very high position of vulnerability. In these territories, the objective must be (1) to adapt local infrastructures to the new technological needs of the sector (eg. green technologies), (2) to focus on projects that benefit the local community both socially and environmentally.
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Elena Giglio
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geopolitics, extractivism, lithium, socio-environmental impacts, local communities.
Extractivism and its socio-environmental impact in South America. Overview of the “lithium triangle”
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Elena Giglio
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Politecnico di Torino, Italy
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geopolitics, extractivism, lithium, socio-environmental impacts, local communities.
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Extractivism and its socio-environmental impact in South America. Overview of the “lithium triangle”
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                                                                           doi: https://doi.org/10.13125/americacritica/4926




Extractivism and its socio-environmental impact in South
America. Overview of the “lithium triangle”
Elena Giglio1
1 Politecnico   di Torino, Italy
E-mail: elena.giglio@polito.it

Received: 20/09/2021. Accepted: 10/10/2021.

Cómo citar: Giglio, Elena. 2021. «Extractivism and its socio-environmental impact in South America. Overview of
the “lithium triangle”». América Crítica 5 (1): 47-53. https://doi.org/10.13125/americacritica/4926


Abstract—This article aims to give an overview of the socio-environmental impacts of the extractive process
in South America. Half of all lithium reserves on the planet are located between Chile, Argentina and
Bolivia, the so-called “lithium triangle”. Lands where the transformation process is often opposed by
local organizations that attempt a dialectic of negotiation/resistance of a territory harming communities
and damaging fragile ecosystems. The exploitation of local water resources caused by the mining process
has a strong impact on ancestral territories. Water resources are contaminated, diverted and consumed by
the lithium mining process causing conflicts and exacerbating the long process of expropriation of local
communities. The displacement of populations, forced by the intensive development of mining activities,
leaves the population in a very high position of vulnerability. In these territories, the objective must be (1) to
adapt local infrastructures to the new technological needs of the sector (eg. green technologies), (2) to focus
on projects that benefit the local community both socially and environmentally. — geopolitics, extractivism,
lithium, socio-environmental impacts, local communities.

Resumen—Este artículo se propone dar una visión general de los impactos socioambientales del proceso
extractivo en Sudamérica. La mitad de las reservas de litio del planeta se encuentran entre Chile, Argentina
y Bolivia, el llamado “triángulo del litio”. Se trata de territorios en los que el proceso de transformación
suele contar con la oposición de organizaciones locales en una dialéctica de negociación/resistencia para un
territorio que perjudica a las comunidades y daña los frágiles ecosistemas. La explotación de los recursos
hídricos locales provocada por el proceso minero tiene un fuerte impacto en los territorios ancestrales. Los
recursos hídricos son contaminados, desviados y consumidos por el proceso minero del litio provocando
conflictos y agravando el largo proceso de expropiación de las comunidades locales. El desplazamiento
de las poblaciones, forzado por el desarrollo intensivo de las actividades mineras, deja a la población
en una posición de vulnerabilidad muy elevada. En estos territorios, el objetivo debe ser (1) adaptar las
infraestructuras locales a las nuevas necesidades tecnológicas del sector (por ejemplo, tecnologías verdes),
(2) centrarse en proyectos que beneficien a la comunidad local tanto social como ambientalmente. —
geopolítica, extractivismo, litio, impactos socioambientales, comunidades locales.


    or the purpose of this essay, a qualitative research   socio-environmental impacts of the extraction process
F     approach has been used to better understand the
local perspective and insights into the problem. That
                                                           (also for potential future quantitative research). The qual-
                                                           itative research methodologies included a review of the
helped us to develop ideas on current scenario and the     available scientific literature, interviews and participant
48                                                                América Crítica 5(1): 47–53, 2021. ISSN: 2532-6724

observation.                                                        This ambiguous role of the State/Government can be
    The issue of energy transition in the automotive sec-       summarized with the concept of “political expropriation”
tor and battery production is not only technological. The       which associates this term with the consequences of all
geopolitical aspects are relevant if it is considered the re-   those interventions implemented to facilitate the extrac-
lations between Europe, United States, Russia and China         tive process by counteracting the processes of community
and the geographical division of the world, high-income         resistance, disarticulating them politically and thus losing
countries (benefiting from the technology), and low-in-         decision-making and management power. The increase
come countries but depositaries of the raw materials            in the enclosures of human resources, is accompanied
needed for that technology.                                     by the inherent expropriation of the capacity for political
    Nickel, Cobalt, Manganese, Lithium, Aluminum,               action and self-determination of the affected populations.
Graphite and Copper are the most important elements             Political expropriation can be thought of as an intentional
implied for cells units battery (Huisman et al. 2020) and       strategy of disarticulation of social organizations and
lithium is undoubtedly a central element in the produc-         resistance movements-employed by state actors, corpora-
tion of electric batteries, one of the fundamental materials    tions, or other social groups-but at the same time allows
in the process of ecological transition, particularly in the    us to link such interventions with the disarticulation of
transport sector. The careful analysis of the geopolitical      community ties (Andreucci, Radhuber, and Chávez León
dynamics around this material are crucial also for the          2021).
support of ecological and sustainable urban regeneration
processes, i.e. “smart cities”.                                 A N OVERVIEW IN L ATIN A MERICA :                      THE
    Half of all lithium reserves on the planet are located      L ITHIUM TRIANGLE
between Chile, Argentina and Bolivia, the so-called
                                                                Lithium resources are mainly placed in Bolivia, 21 mil-
“lithium triangle”. From the salty desert in Bolivia, Salar
                                                                lion tons; Argentina, 19.3 million tons; Chile, 9.6 mil-
de Uyuni, to the Chilean Atacama Desert, and continuing
                                                                lion tons; United States 7.9; Australia, 6.4 million tons;
eastward into Argentina. What should be of greatest con-
                                                                China, 5.1 million tons, according to USGS data (U.S.
cern, however, is not the amount of lithium present on
                                                                Geological Survey 2021). Here are located most of the
the Earth’s crust, but its global distribution. The social
                                                                continental brines in the world, where lithium rich solu-
impact and the lack of information and consultation with
                                                                tion is pumped up from groundwater to the plant where
the local population, together with a difficult industrial-
                                                                lithium increase percentage step by step through evapora-
ization on site (due to poor technological preparation),
                                                                tion ponds till is ready to be refined into lithium carbonate
are issues directly related and consequent to the “geopol-
                                                                (Liu, Agusdinata, and Myint 2019).
itics of extractivism” (we refer to extractivism (Svampa
                                                                    The assessment of the criticality of a raw material
and Teran Mantovani 2019) as economic activity based
                                                                would depend basically on two factors:
on the use of large ’natural resources’, most of which are
destined for export on the global market).                      • economic importance;
    In these territories the continuous process of privatiza-   • supply risks.
tion of resources for the benefit of large players and the      The lithium market, under pressure from an ever-
construction of ad hoc regulations to deregulate resources      increasing push for a sustainable energy transition, is
has exacerbated the long process of expropriation of lo-        growing exponentially, but in Latin America logistical
cal communities, mainly indigenous. Lands where the             costs are very high due in part to inadequate reliable in-
transformation process is often opposed by local organi-        frastructure, political and economic instability, lack of
zations that attempt a dialectic of negotiation/resistance      technical expertise and large capital investments.
of a territory that ends up being considered a “bargaining         To date Chile has the largest and most certified lithium
chip” leading either to ongoing conflicts, or to an often       reserve in South America located in the Atacama Desert,
ambiguous adaptation process. The growth of the min-            one of the driest places in the world (therefore not ideal
ing industry in northern Chile has led to the territorial       for extraction and storage given its high flammability).
dispossession of indigenous communities, which in turn          This reserve has the great logistical advantage of being
has generated a process of indigenous self-identification       located near the city of Antofagasta, which is one of the
that has generated ethno-territorial conflicts in response      most important industrial ports in the country. The lo-
to these socio-environmental transformations (Romero-           gistical advantage, the low rate of corruption (different
Toledo 2019).                                                   from other countries of the same content) combined with
Giglio, Extractivism                                                                                                   49

liberalist policies, let Chile dominate the market. Chile      Salar de Uyuni, not far from Potosi, and in the Salar de
today is trying to break away from the role of producer        Coipasa. Despite the fact that its deposits are estimated
and, also in an attempt to respond to the growing share        to be among the largest in the world, lithium contributes
of the market, is pushing the production on site (example      only a small part to the GDP of the country. Local en-
is the agreement with the company USA - Albermarle             vironmental, socio-political and geopolitical issues are
under which the company agrees to sell at a favorable          effecting the development of this sector, such us: the high
price part of the lithium extracted to Chilean companies       rate of internal corruption, the technological inadequacy
engaged in on-site production.                                 of the extraction process (predominantly left in the hands
    Lithium mining inevitably damages the soil and also        of local companies due to nationalization) and the diffi-
causes air pollution. The salt flats where the lithium is      cult relations with Chile that prevent Bolivia from using
found are located in arid territories and access to water is   the nearby port of Antofagasta for exports.
crucial for the mines, but also for the local communities          The resign of Evo Morales in November 2019 for
and the local flora and fauna. Atacama Desert presents         many was a concomitant of a geopolitical conflict for
extremely arid climate and unique topography produce           the access to the immense reserves of lithium that are
the saline groundwater containing 0.15% lithium that           in the salar of Uyuni. Nationalization of resources and
serves as the major water source for lithium extraction.       push for infrastructure, small industries, social assistance
    In the Atacama salt flats in Chile, extraction consumes,   programs for indigenous peoples are also the main points
contaminates and diverts scarce water resources away           of MAS (Movimento al Socialismo), which implicitly
from local communities, and lithium mining has caused          aims at the intensive exploitation of the subsoil for eco-
water-related conflicts with several communities, such as      nomic and social purposes and for local welfare (Andean-
the Toconao community in northern Chile (Garcés and            Amazonian capitalism). According to the (few) public
Álvarez 2020).                                                 data, this did not happen. The main result was the rene-
    Jujuy, Salta and Catamarca are the provinces with the      gotiation of the shares of multinationals operating in the
largest deposits of lithium in Argentina. The take-off of      country and the modification of the royalty percentages
the extractive sector has been limited mainly by several       that companies are obliged to pay to the State (Supreme
changes of government in the last 20 years that have al-       Decree 28701 of May 2006), replacing North American
ternated phases of total liberalization of the market with     capital with that of China and other European and Latin
processes of nationalization of the major companies in         American companies.
crucial and strategic sectors (eg oil company YPF). The            According to the last data available (De Ambroggi
statist policies of the left-wing government which have        2020) after three years of Morales’ government, 67%
increased taxes on exports and imposed heavy controls          of oil reserves were in the hands of the Spanish com-
on access to foreign currency, also due to strong internal     pany Repsol, while the state-owned companies Chaco
economic crises, has discouraged foreign investment and        and Andina owned only 28% of shares; as for natural
/ or large companies often forced to disentangle between       gas reserves, 61% were controlled by the Brazilian com-
provincial and national regulations have thus opposed im-      pany Petrobras, 22% by Repsol and only 13% by the
portant liberalization processes, in some cases reducing       nationalized companies Chaco and Andina. In addition,
the country’s global market power. There are different         the country’s largest debt to China was incurred (7.5 bil-
large multinational companies that to date have set foot       lion dollars, equal to 17% of Bolivia’s GDP), aimed at
in Argentina (Fornillo and Zicari 2017):                       an ambitious program of mega-projects in the region -
                                                               including infrastructure, hydroelectric dams and mines
• Japanese company Toyota partnered with the Aus-              - which, however, were totally conditional on being car-
  tralian mining company Orocobre Limited to exploit           ried out by Chinese companies. Likewise, surpluses of
  the Salar de Olaroz (province of Jujuy);                     raw materials were not reused in the welfare system in
• Magna and Mitsubishi (also from Japan) did the same          favor of the rural population, but mainly to improve the
  in the Salar de Cauchari (Salta province) with the Cana-     extractive process from a structural point of view or, in
  dian mining company Lithium Americas;                        any case, focusing on the massive export of raw materials
• the Korean automaker Kores did so with Lithium One           on the world market.
  (Canadian-Chinese mining company) to exploit the Sal
  de Vida deposit in Catamarca, Argentina.

Bolivia has endless deposits of lithium in the area of the
50                                                              América Crítica 5(1): 47–53, 2021. ISSN: 2532-6724

L ITHIUM AND ITS ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT                         al. 2019). Flooding, caused by heavy rain or rising sea
                                                              levels, may negatively affect the availability of fresh wa-
The ecological transition, environmentally sustainable,       ter or may introduce salt water into water containment
green and therefore environmentally friendly and able         systems in a mining site. This may also lead to an un-
to combat global warming is a priority objective on the       controlled release of metal-contaminated effluents, cre-
political agenda of all countries. Lithium plays a crucial    ating a real toxic waste storage, or render the working
role in this process, but at the same time, its extraction    areas in the mines impracticable, even if only temporar-
has a significant socio-environmental impact (Khobra-         ily. Climate change can potentially have few positive im-
gade 2020): in this area, environmental problems are          pacts: eg increased temperatures would save evaporation
linked to resource availability. The supply of lithium        time by applying smaller evaporation ponds (Manhart
can hide extraction methods often not-sustainable, which      et al. 2019).
risk compromising the green revolution of which it is the         In South America, lithium deposits are often located
protagonist. It is not only the emissions of CO2 from the     in desert areas, so the extraction process would create a
extraction of underground deposits, but also the excessive    severe water shortage. Mining practices, and the in some
use of the soil that derives from it, with the enormous       cases the privatization of water resources / water supply
expanses of evaporation ponds that disfigure entire land-     services, lead to water shortages which can compromise
scapes, in addition to significant water consumption for      lagoon structure and jeopardize the ecological value of
lithium extraction in brine.                                  these hypersaline lakes rising the social conflicts associ-
    The real consequences of mining activities have been      ated with water. Although the water in the plant tends
for years hidden to the world population. The economic        to be recovered, the large amount needed and the diffi-
expansion generated by the extractive process in its early    cult environmental context of the South American salt
stages was accompanied by a lack of visibility and recog-     flats makes the problem almost unsolvable (Comisión
nition of the territorial and socio-environmental conflicts   Nacional del Litio 2010).
by the local governments, exacerbating the situation in           Lithium mining breaks the water cycle. The process
these territories (Svampa and Teran Mantovani 2019).          affects the water table and the subterranean flow of water
This peaceful coexistence of local communities with min-      between the Cordillera and the sea. Drilling for lithium
ing activities was definitely broken with the publication     can reach depths of up to 300 meters where freshwater
of the first medical and toxicological studies (Observato-    basins are often found, risking the mixing of fresh and
rio de Conflictos Mineros de América Latina (OCMAL)           salt water with devastating impacts on the ecosystem.
2020) on the impact of the mining process on human            One estimate is that it requires 1 liter of brine water to
health and on local ecosystems.                               produce 0.05–1 mg of lithium. This translates into as
    In these contexts, a response is expected from the        much as half a million gallons to produce 1 ton of lithium.
State and political decision-makers, as guardian of the       Dynamical modeling, such as the one that has been used
territory, with adequate solutions and concrete responses     to assess water carrying capacity in East Africa, could be
to local problems often related to primary activities.        a constructive approach (Mancini and Sala 2018).
    Despite the presence of clear regulations governing           This process is carried out using brines (liquid
mining activities especially to protect the rights of in-     streams) located in the salt flats of Argentina, Bolivia,
digenous communities in their territories (eg Convention      Chile and Brazil. As a result, intensive water consump-
169 of the International Labor Organization - ILO, which      tion can reach up to 640 liters per second in mining
recognizes the rights of indigenous peoples), many local      concessions that can last at least 15 years (Fornillo 2018).
communities denounce the absence of free, prior and in-       In Salar de Atacama, approximately sixty-five percent
formed consultation with the Government, a mechanism          of the region’s water is diverted for mining practices
provided for by the aforementioned Convention 169 (eg         (Morales Balcázar 2021) and the rural populations have
new contract signed by the Chilean state-owned Corpo-         been agitating for years against the exploitation of land
ración de Fomento with the company SQM to expand              by the extractive industries because the deposits are in
lithium extraction in the Atacama salt flats) (Observato-     desert areas and the extraction process creates a strong
rio de Conflictos Mineros de América Latina (OCMAL)           water imbalance often to the detriment of local popula-
2020).                                                        tions of the “lithium triangle”.
    The same impacts of climate change could, in turn,            If we look at the specific example of the “Norte
disrupt the supply chains of raw materials (Manhart et        Grande” in Chile, the result of neoliberal policies that
Giglio, Extractivism                                                                                               51

have allowed the expropriation of water has generated a       ter is evaporated by solar radiation and wind, and the
massive transformation of the Norte Grande with enor-         brine is concentrated through a precipitation process.
mous pressure on water resources located in the ter-          The concentrated brine then enters a plant process for
ritories where the Aymara, Quechua and Atacameño              the production of lithium carbonate, at which point the
indigenous communities live. The water used by the            ore is marketed. The salt flats are wetlands that, due
mining sector corresponds to 44% of surface water and         to their composition, represent important freshwater
42% of groundwater, with seawater coming in third with        reserves, both for the biodiversity of the region and
8%. In addition, highland water is withdrawn by mining        for the indigenous communities that live there. The
companies from aquifers, impacting the entire territory       salt flats are endorheic basins composed of an aquif-
(Romero-Toledo 2019).                                         erous area of brackish water with lithium and another
    Again, Toledo in his study notes different types of       area with low salinity (“fresh”) water. Although these
impacts generated on the community due to water ex-           areas are kept separate by their density, there is a mix-
ploitation:                                                   ing area between them (Marazuela et al. 2019). The
• Water extraction that affects communities in the high-      natural sources of water recharge of the salt flats are
  lands;                                                      rainfall and temporary rivers, while discharge is by
• Water scarcity affecting communities downstream of          evaporation. Salt accumulation occurs on the surface
  the extraction area;                                        of the basin, due to the proximity of the aquifer water
• Water scarcity allegedly accelerating the migration pro-    level to the surface. Therefore, alteration and dam-
  cess of some indigenous communities, predominantly          age to the saline interface could have repercussions
  the Aymara in rural areas;                                  on the brackish and freshwater areas, causing them to
• And finally, suspended dust and its impact on water,        mix (Holzbecher 2005). Likewise, a water imbalance
  land and living beings, due to the transport of minerals    caused by a large discharge of brackish water could
  and residues in communities near the deposit. The           mobilize freshwater towards the saline area, causing
  situation is the same in Argentina, where the extrac-       its salinization (Houston et al. 2011).
  tion process also requires the use of large amounts of
                                                              C ONCLUSION
  water, which causes a rupture in the water balance of
  the basin, generating a level of water discharge that       Technological innovations (Calzada Olvera 2021) re-
  exceeds the existing load level. This represents a risk     lated to mining and new discoveries of lithium deposits
  of increased water stress in the area and salinization      represent (potentially) for South America redemption
  of freshwater reserves. In Argentina, lithium extrac-       on the global scene (in terms of local economic and
  tion projects are mainly located in the Puna, in high       technological development), but mineral exploration is
  altitude salt flats. The impact on these reserves, in an    risky, inevitable, expensive and with negative ecologi-
  arid region with a fragile ecosystem such as the Puna,      cal footprint especially on local communities (Svampa
  would represent a decrease in the water available for       and Teran Mantovani 2019).
  vegetation and animal life, as well as a lower level        There are crucial steps that must be implemented at
  of water available for human use. This alteration of        the local level (Fornillo 2018) for this to happen which
  water reserves would also have repercussions on the         can be summarized as follows:
  traditional primary economic activities of the local
  communities (livestock, agriculture and salt extrac-        – Adapt existing local infrastructure: weak infras-
  tion). The impact not only translates into loss of water,     tructure (logistics and energy infrastructure) brings
  but also in the disappearance of vulnerable species that      increased project costs. Adequate infrastructure
  only exist in these places, the loss of the cultural her-     is needed to develop competitive local industries
  itage of indigenous peoples, the losses of millions of        throughout the extractive chain and if this gap is
  years of evolution of adaptation processes of species,        not filled, South American countries run the risk of
  including the extremophilic organisms (Garcés and             being cut off from the international scene and the
  Álvarez 2020). To extract the mineral, drilling fields        great opportunity driven by the energy transition.
  are set up where, through a pumping system, large             The objective must therefore be to break the logic in
  quantities of brackish water containing lithium are ex-       which the foreign company extracts resources and
  tracted from the salt flats. This water is deposited in       profits from the territory without local added value.
  evaporation and concentration pools. There, the wa-         – Understanding the value chain and the lithium in-
52                                                                 América Crítica 5(1): 47–53, 2021. ISSN: 2532-6724

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