In the far north of Chile, specifically in the midst of the arid Atakama desert, a new economic heart beats the world, where one of the most valuable wealth of modern earth is extracted, which is the lithium, the white metal that is called “twenty -first century”.
Under the incendiary sunlight and the stillness of the brutal nature, competition between the major powers intensifies to control the remainder of this vital mineral, which has become a major engine for the future economy.
In this exciting scene, the Al -Jazeera correspondent, Hassan Masoud, accompanied us on a field trip to where this wealth is extracted, documented by the camera and words, features of an international battle that takes place in the heart of a desert that appears on its face, but in its interior it is filled with the frantic political and economic movement.
The artificial pools in the “Salar de Atakama” field do not suggest at first glance that it is influence arenas, but in reality they represent real contact lines between the global economy giants.
There, where the “prime” material is extracted from salty groundwater, and is treated under the sun in giant ponds, gradually turns into the most dense lithium, which is the basic material used in electric car batteries, smartphones and computing devices.
The beginning of the story
However, the story did not start today, as the roots of the regulatory exploitation of this mineral in Chile dates back to the 1970s, when it began to be used in limited industrial and medical fields, at that time, and under the rule of General Augusto Pinochet, the lithium classified as a “national wealth”, which was in its export and made its exploitation a monopoly on selected companies.
However, the scene was later changed with the democratic transformation in the country, as two companies obtained the Lithium fields, the American Albimareli company, which refrained from declaring the island and the Chilean SQM company, which opened its doors to our correspondent to document the exciting and exciting production operations.
Inside the SQM facilities, the work seemed to go according to a tight scientific pattern, but what raises more attention is the geopolitical aspect of what is going on there. In 2018, the company sold 24% of its shares to the Chinese company Tanki, which was explained internationally as the announcement of Beijing’s official entry into the competition line to dominate this sensitive sector.
While China is seeking to secure its future needs of lithium, Washington monitors this movement with great caution, as the battle here is not only related to commercial deals, but who controls the keys to the clean energy industry for future decades.
International race
The international race on strategic minerals, led by lithium, is no longer hidden, and the Atakama Desert has become an arena in which economic interests intersect with geopolitical accounts, amid local questions about the extent of Chile benefiting from this tremendous wealth.
While international companies continue to pump investments in this remote desert, citizens and activists ask difficult questions, to what extent will the government protect the rights of local communities? Will the returns be redistributed fairly? What about the environmental impacts of these widespread operations?
There are open questions in light of the noise of the excavators and the silence of salt accumulated above the ground.
With the growing global demand for clean energy, it seems that the story of Lithium in Chile is still in its infancy, and that its next chapter will be written between the major capitals of the world, but its counter will continue to be extracted from the depths of this silent solid desert.
