Lithium fever in Argentina overshadows environmental concerns

”He lithium It’s bad and good at the same time” says Anahí Jorge, who works in a company that extracts the metal and, at 23 years old, earns a salary that is four times that of a municipal employee in her town, Susques, in the Argentine province of Jujuy.

“The water issue is detrimental to us, but it is good for the people who are working today.“, he told AFP.

Susques, a town of less than 4,000 inhabitants at 3,800 meters above sea level, is one of the closest to the Salar de Olaroz, in the north, where two of the four lithium extraction projects in the production stage in the country operate: Sales de Jujuy and Exar.

Argentina, Chili and Bolivia make up the “lithium triangle“an area that could contain more than half of the world’s reserves of that mineral, according to experts.

In 2023, Argentina was ranked as the world’s fourth largest producer of the metal, behind AustraliaChile and Chinaaccording to data from the United States Geological Survey.

Lithium, an essential element for the energy transition, is key in electric car batteries, but the methods for extracting it from salt flats require a large amount of water, a resource that is scarce in the highlands.

However, in a country with nearly half the population below the poverty line and rising unemployment, environmental concerns can be overshadowed by immediate needs.

“It is very difficult to refuse“, says Anahi Jorgeand says that, before the arrival of the miners, the young women of her town went to the provincial capital to work as domestic employees for much lower wages.

It’s the economy

Among the adobe and mud houses of Susques, buildings made of hollow bricks and tiles are beginning to appear. Its inhabitants, many of whom are descendants of indigenous Quechua or Kollas communities, wear uniforms with fireproof tape provided by the companies.

Some have been working in the mines for years and, after earning good profits, have started their own businesses: transporting mine personnel and small hotels.

“60% of the population is working in mining“, account Benjamin Vazquez41 years old, member of the municipal commission of Susques. He stresses, however, that the transformations did not impact “the infrastructure of the community” such as sewers or gas pipes.

Political scientist specializing in the environment Melisa Argento believes that mining activity causes “intercommunity conflicts“between the peoples in which it develops and those who remain on the margins, and also”intra-community“between residents who manage to access jobs in companies and those who do not.

The ton of lithium went from being worth almost US$70,000 in 2022 to just over 12,000 in 2024, and this type of fluctuation results in suspensions of workers in companies: “Populations are tied to the vicissitudes of the international market“, Argento told AFP.

“Most of the kids here tell you ‘I’m finishing fifth year and I’m going to work in the mining industry’”, refers Camila Cruz19 years old, who lives in Susques and studies medicine remotely.

“They don’t realize that mining is not a job that is going to last forever. You are going to generate income but once it’s over, if you didn’t study, you’re not going to end up anywhere.“, he told AFP.

“There is no water”

“I come from the countryside and there is no water“, he tells AFP Nativity Baptist Sarapuraa 59-year-old peasant woman, while cooking llama soup in the courtyard of her house.Before you could get water from two or three meters away, now (you have to search) ever deeper”, he comments.

Cruz is also concerned about water use: “Our grandparents have their fields near the mining company and once they export the lithium, they leave a desert behind.“, he says.

In the extractive phase of projects such as the Salar de Olaroz, between 1 and 2 million liters of brine water are evaporated for each ton of lithium, and another 140,000 liters of fresh water are used to purify it, according to data from the Argentine Chamber of Environmental Businesses (CEMA).

“Today, the exact amount of water used is unknown, and there are no effective controls.“, says Vazquez.

In its 2024 water report, the UN warns that lithium extraction can “have a negative impact on water supplies, the environment and local people”.

“Mining is not for life”, Sarapura reflects on his ranch: “If you know how to respect our Pachamama (mother earth), we have a lifetime to live”.