Richest Lithium Nation Risks Being Left Behind in Tesla-led Boom
- Chile may fall behind Argentina in scramble to produce lithium
- Lithium has bucked commodity slump in electric-car revolution
A flock of flamingos are seen wading in Laguna Colorada located within the Eduardo Abaroa Andean National Fauna Reserve in the highlands of San Luis, near the border with Chile, in the Uyuni salt flats, Bolivia. The Uyuni salt flats are estimated to contain 10 billion tons of salt - of which 25,000 tons are extracted every year - as well as 100 million tons of lithium, making it one of the largest global reserves of this mineral, according to state officials at the Bolivian Mining Corporation (COMIBOL).
Photographer: Martin Bernetti/AFP via Getty ImagesThe electric-car revolution is here and Chile is looking to ramp up production of the lithium the industry needs for batteries. Or it would be, but for a bitter dispute between the government and the former son-in-law of a military dictator.
After Chile’s government moved to withdraw its license to exploit one of the world’s largest deposits, Soc. Quimica & Minera de Chile SA opted to invest in a lithium project across the Andes in Argentina and is trying to block a project by Albemarle Corp. in Chile. SQM is controlled by Julio Ponce, the former husband of the late dictator Augusto Pinochet’s daughter.