Argentina's lithium boom threatens Indigenous towns

Together with neighbors Chile and Bolivia, Argentina forms the so-called "lithium triangle" in Latin America. According to the US Geological Survey, around 56% of the 89 million tons of lithium resources identified worldwide are located in this region. Argentina is the world's fourth-largest producer of the metal.

In recent years, lithium has become a geopolitically important raw material. It is indispensable for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, particularly used in electric vehicles. For this reason, lithium is considered a key element of the so-called green energy transition and is often referred to as "white gold."

The light metal is hidden in hundreds of salt lakes, the so-called salares. Deep wells of salty, mineral-rich groundwater lie beneath the surface. Unlike other mining methods, lithium is not extracted from rock, but from salt water pumped up from the lakes.

The real problem is that the salt lakes also serve as an important part of a highly biodiverse ecosystem. Although the water from the lagoons isn't suitable for drinking, the lagoons are connected to freshwater sources on which the survival of thousands of Indigenous communities depends.

The small town of Susques, with less than 4,000 inhabitants, is one of the closest settlements to the Olaroz salt flats, where two of Argentina's four lithium production plants are located. According to community representative Benjamin Vazquez, more than 60% of the population work in the lithium sector.

Anahi Jorge, 23, works for an Argentine company that mines lithium. She earns four times the salary of a local government employee in Susques. "The water issue is harmful to us, but it good for the people who are employed," she told the AFP news agency.

Susques is the capital of the district of the same name in the province of Jujuy, in Argentina's far northwest. Before the lithium production plant was built, young women like Anahi Jorge had no choice but to move to the provincial capital and work as domestic servants for a pittance. "It's very difficult to refuse" the blessing of lithium, she said.

"No to mega-mining. Let's take care of natural resources," reads the sign put up by activists on a salt flat in the Salinas Grandes. There are growing concerns about the impact on groundwater sources in regions already affected by prolonged periods of drought. Every day, a single lithium plant uses millions of liters of water to extract the metal.

Natividad Bautista Sarapura explains that there is hardly any water left on his land. "Before, you could find water at 2 or 3 meters [6 to 9 feet], now [you have to dig] deeper and deeper," he said. According to one environmental group, projects like Olaroz use up to 2 million liters of salt water for every ton of lithium, and an additional 140,000 liters of freshwater are needed for purification.