CASE STUDY:

Salar de Maricunga, Atacama, Chile

From Yes to life No to Mining global network ‘On the Frontlines of Lithium Extraction’

Maricunga Salt Flat has suffered from the impacts of gold mining in the hands of Canadian Kinross, responsible for the desecation of about 70 hectares in the biological corridor  pantanillo-ciénaga redonda, part of the Ramsar Site Complejo Lacustre Laguna del Negro Francisco y Laguna Santa Rosa, the government has approved in the middle of the pandemic lithium projects without proper environmental assessment nor FPIC to the Indigeous colla communities affected by these activities. This is because the companies don’t acknowledge the social impacts of brine extraction in this Salt Flat as they do with the atacameño people in Atacama Salt Flat, and that’s acceptable for the environmental authorities.

Currently the most advanced projects are:  Minera Salar Blanco S.A. owned by Australian  Lithium Power International Limited (51%), Chilean Minera Salar Blanco S.p.A. (31%) and Canadian Bearing Lithium Corp. (18%); and Sales de Maricunga, controlled by Grupo Errázuriz (55%) and Taiwanese Simbalik Group (45%).