A Danwatch investigation

“The mining companies only see water. But water is life for us”

1. December 2019
Nikolaj Houmann Mortensen
Nikolaj Houmann Mortensen
Journalist
Sophia Boddenberg

Editor: Jesper Hyhne | Need more information about this investigation? Please contact us here

Photo: Pablo Rojas Madariaga

67-year old Clementino López is one of around 20,000 indigenous Likan Antai living in the Atacama Desert. He was born in Bolivia close to the Chilean border and came to Chile at the age of five. “We are a nation without borders”, he says – amongst other things, in reference to the fact that the Likan Antai were divided by present-day national borders and are now living in both Chile, Bolivia and Argentina.

In this interview, Clementino López talks about what water means to the people that inhabit the driest desert in the world. And he talks about his ”greatest sorrow” – that there is less and less water in the Atacama.

A Danwatch Investigation

The investigation divided into articles. You decide where to begin.

Our demand for electric cars and smartphones is drying up the most arid place in the world

Lithium extraction for the batteries in our computers, telephones and electric cars is using many of the scarce water resources that allow indigenous peoples and animals to inhabit the world’s driest desert.

Much of the world’s lithium is being extracted from indigenous peoples’ territories against their will

As nationwide protests hit Chile, indigenous communities blocked the roads to nearby lithium-extraction sites. Authorities are obliged to confer with them before mining in their territories, but indigenous groups claim they have not been consulted.

Indigenous peoples face charges as they resist future lithium projects across Chile

Amid soaring global demand for lithium, more and more sites in Chile are being explored for extraction. Across the country, indigenous communities oppose future mining projects.

There’s probably Chilean lithium behind the screen you’re reading this on

Lithium mining fuels conflicts over water in the world's driest desert in Chile. And there’s a very good chance you have Chilean lithium in your Apple gadget, Samsung phone or electric car.

How much water is used to make the world’s batteries?

While the Atacama Desert experiences water scarcity, lithium companies pump billions of liters of brine from the area's subsoil.

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