Lithium Triangle: Difference between revisions

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In December 2018 Bolivia signed an agreement with the German company [[ACISA]] for lithium extraction.<ref name=DW2022>{{Cite news |title=Bolivia: el sueño alemán del litio amenaza con derrumbarse |url=https://www.dw.com/es/bolivia-el-sue%C3%B1o-alem%C3%A1n-del-litio-amenaza-con-derrumbarse/a-62118554 |date=2022-06-13 |access-date=2023-04-20 |work=[[Deutsche Welle]] |language=Spanish}}</ref> The cooperation with ACISA was, by June 2022, deemed to have stalled with Bolivia negotiating larger lithium projects with Canadian, Chinese, and United States companies.<ref name=DW2022/> Since the early 2020s, the Bolivian government has been advocating that the countries in the region organize themselves so that they can influence international trade of [[lithium]], including the creation of an organization similar to [[OPEC]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.celag.org/hacia-una-organizacion-latinoamericana-de-paises-exportadores-de-litio-olpel/|title=Hacia una Organización Latinoamericana de Países Exportadores de Litio (OLPEL)|author=|work=CELAG|access-date=2023-03-26|date=2022-05-23|language=es}}</ref>

All lithium extracted in Chile as of 2023 comes from [[Salar de Atacama]].<ref name=Munita>{{Cite news |title=Control estatal de los salares, negociar con SQM y empresa nacional: Las claves de la estrategia del Gobierno por litio |url=https://www.emol.com/noticias/Economia/2023/04/21/1092883/claves-politica-nacional-litio.html |last=Munita C. |first=Ignacia |date=2023-04-21 |access-date=2023-04-21 |work=[[El Mercurio|Emol]] |language=Spanish}}</ref> The only two lithium-extracting companies currently operating in Chile, [[Sociedad Química y Minera|SQM]] and [[Albemarle Corporation|Albemarle]], have licenses to extract lithium until 2030 and 2043 respectively.<ref name=Munita/><ref name=exante21>{{Cite news |title=Las razones del desplome bursátil de SQM tras el anuncio presidencial del litio |url=https://www.ex-ante.cl/las-razones-del-desplome-bursatil-de-sqm-tras-el-anuncio-presidencial-del-litio/ |last=Browne R. |first=Vicente |date=2023-04-21 |access-date=2023-04-21 |work=[[Ex-Ante (online newspaper)|Ex-Ante]] |language=Spanish}}</ref> In April 2023, the Chilean government announced plans for nationalizing its lithium industry.<ref name=reuternat21>{{Cite news |title=Chile plans to nationalize its vast lithium industry |url=https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/chile-plans-nationalize-its-vast-lithium-industry-2023-04-21/ |last1=Villegas |first1=Alexander |date=2023-04-21 |access-date=2023-04-21 |work=Reuters |last2=Scheyder |first2=Ernest}}</ref> The announcement impacts chiefly the companies SQM and Albemarle.<ref name=reuternat21/> In response, the [[Share (finance)|shares]] of SQM in the [[Santiago Stock Exchange]] dropped by 15% during the day, their largest daily drop since September 20, 2022.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Acción de SQM se desploma por política del litio y borra más de US$ 3.300 millones en capitalización bursátil |url=https://www.df.cl/mercados/bolsa-monedas/bolsas-hoy-jaidx |last1=Pescio |first1=Benjamín |date=2023-04-21 |access-date=2023-04-22 |work=[[Diario Financiero]] |last2=Arvelo |first2=María C.|language=Spanish}}</ref> The government's decision was thought to have less impact for Albemarle than for SQM given that it had many more years to negotiate before its license expireexpired.<ref name=exante21/> The state-owned copper company [[Codelco]] was commissioned by the government to negotiate nationalization with SQM.<ref name=exante21/>

The indigenous inhabitants of Salar de Atacama basin –the [[Atacama people|Likan Antay]]– have a history of both opposing lithium extraction and negotiating for [[shared benefits]] with lithium companies.<ref name=Lorca/> Negotiations occur under the framework of the [[Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989|Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention]] which Chile signed in 2008.<ref name=Lorca/> It is argued that "[a]greements between Indigenous organizations and lithium companies have brought significant economic resources for community development, but have also expanded the mining industry's capacity for social control in the area.".<ref name=Lorca>{{Cite journal |title=Mining indigenous territories: Consensus, tensions and ambivalences in the Salar de Atacama |journal=The Extractive Industries and Society |last1=Lorca |first1=Mauricio |volume=9 |last2=Olivera Andrade |first2=Manuel |doi=10.1016/j.exis.2022.101047 |year=2022 |last3=Escosteguy |first3=Melisa |last4=Köppel |first4=Jonas |last5=Scoville-Simonds |first5=Morgan |last6=Hufty |first6=Marc|page=101047 |s2cid=246456703 |doi-access=free |hdl=11250/3011598 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

This control is rooted in a dominant discourse that has taken root in the global rush to a sustainable future in light of global [[climate change]].<ref name=":0" /> With lithium being a key strategic resource is facilitating this shift, many countries are rushing to acquire as much as possible.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Dorn |first1=Felix M. |last2=Ruiz Peyré |first2=Fernando |date=2020 |title=Lithium as a Strategic Resource: Geopolitics, Industrialization, and Mining in Argentina |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/15/article/772602 |journal=Journal of Latin American Geography |volume=19 |issue=4 |pages=68–90 |doi=10.1353/lag.2020.0101 |s2cid=226967147 |issn=1548-5811}}</ref> Any form of protest against such mining operations is deemed to be an opposition to climate change, ergo hindering the global agenda in combatting climate change.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" /> This discourse has resulted in the marginalisation of opposed indigiounessindigenous voices rendering them nearly powerless.<ref name=":0" />

==See also==