Argentina's 'white gold': Will its lithium boom end badly? | People and Power
Al Jazeera, 16 Mar 2023
Argentina is home to huge reserves of lithium, a light metal used in electric batteries that is likely to be vital for reducing our reliance on planet-warming fossil fuels.
But those reserves lie beneath the vast Andean salt plains - a unique ecosystem stretching between Argentina, Bolivia and Chile that Indigenous communities are desperate to protect from a mining boom.
They say lithium production sucks up scarce groundwater and would be environmentally catastrophic for this stunning but arid region.
So, is it possible to extract the metal - and fight climate change - without causing significant ecological damage? People and Power investigates.
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