Located in Tarapacá region and crossed by the Bolivian border, Coipasa Salt Flat is under dispute since exploration works carried by the Canadian Lithium Chile were rejected by local Aymara communities because of the potential damage on wetlands that sustain both wildlife and cattle (alpacas).
The Chilean 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.
Neither proper environmental assessment nor Indigenous/Public consultation has ever been carried out for lithium extraction, and precautionary principle has not been respected.
The project would cause the destruction of habitats and the contamination of the Alagón and Tajo river basins where the toxic waste from the mine would end up.
The Olkola Aboriginal Corporation, a large landholder on the Cape, have plans for alternative futures to lithium ‘green’ extractivism.