"China’s Pursuit of Argentina’s White Gold: Lithium" – 23 May 2025

'The Cauchari-Olaroz project is located in the Susques department, in the western part of Jujuy Province, in the heart of the high-altitude Andean puna.' (...)

'The consequences of this exploitation are significant. In an extremely arid region, where rainfall is scarce and ecosystems are fragile, the intensive extraction of brine disrupts hydrological cycles, increases the salinisation of freshwater sources, and threatens the high-Andean wetlands that are essential for local biodiversity and the survival of communities.' (...)

'Indigenous communities in Jujuy have been denouncing the impacts of lithium mining on their ancestral territories for more than a decade. Most of the salt flats are located within lands constitutionally recognised as communal property of Indigenous peoples, yet this has not prevented projects from advancing without complying with international standards for free, prior and informed consultation.

Organisations such as the Apacheta Collective and communities from Salinas Grandes and Laguna Guayatayoc are demanding that their right to decide how their territories are used be respected. They argue that the consultations conducted by the provincial government were merely formalities, lacking genuine participation, and that decisions were made behind the backs of local residents. “They tell us it is clean energy, but for us it means less water, fewer animals and less life,” community members state. Their opposition is not only environmental, but also cultural and economic: mining threatens to displace ancestral ways of life based on agriculture, livestock farming and salt harvesting.' (...)

'Experts warn that the environmental impact assessments required by law are neither sufficiently rigorous nor up to date, and that there is no evaluation of the cumulative impact of the multiple projects currently underway. The Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation recently ordered the provinces of Jujuy and Salta to provide detailed information on the authorisations and studies carried out, recognising that the current oversight framework is inadequate.' (...)