Chile, Argentina and Bolivia account for about 60 per cent of the world’s known deposits of lithium, but each country has a different approach to exploiting it. Production constraints are good for Australia.
Santiago | The rugged high plain deserts where Chile, Bolivia and Argentina share a border may seem an unlikely setting for one of the world’s most intense competitions for mineral wealth.
The dramatic vistas, dominated by rocky moonscape valleys, blinding white salt flats and snow-capped volcanoes, have been home to Indigenous Atacameños for centuries, and long attracted travellers and adventurers. Closer to the Pacific Coast, around the mining hubs of Calama and Antofagasta, companies from around the world – including Australia – extract copper from the world’s biggest open pit mines.
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Mark Mulligan is the world editor and a former markets and economics writer. He was a Financial Times correspondent. Connect with Mark on Twitter. Email Mark at mark.mulligan@afr.com.au
