@Ninja Tuna
Agree with your general sentiment
My perspective is that ALB have acted more responsibly and shown due respect to the indigenous community. As such they were not targeted by the local protests.
It may be the case that SQM and ALB need to join forces with BHP to pump desalinated water to the Escondida Copper mine in the Atacama for their fresh water requirements. This however has cost billions of dollars and still only supplies 40% of the fresh water needs of Escondida despite its massive pumped volume.
Livent is experiencing some frustration with minor opposition to its plans to pipe fresh water from a more sustainable yet distant source. Livent has always operated in a sustainable manner and it's aqua usage does not exceed natural replenishment rates.
For it's expansion plans it requires a fresh water pipeline from the Rio de Los Patos river for sustainability at Salar del Hombre Muerto.
I believe the following screenshot demonstrates the commitment that Livent has shown towards environmental responsibility. It would appear there has been no overall negative impact to biodiversity over an 8 year period.
There are also complaints about the lack of skilled labour in the Catamarca province which would likely have an effect on SDV construction.
There is also a lack of infrastructure that will be hard to address given the Argentine economy.
I would imagine sourcing skilled labour for a project like pond lining would be difficult considering both Orocobre and LAC/Ganfeng are undertaking large scale rapid pond construction.
http://www.launiondigital.com.ar/no...-aun-no-cuenta-mano-obra-calificada-necesaria
At SDV, GXY has access to suitable groundwater within its tenements for its needs.
The latest flowsheet showed they weren't leaning towards direct extraction in my interpretation.
As for pumping less brine that would of course depend on recovery rates not scale of pond system. It may also be the case the Direct Extraction techniques require more freshwater than traditional methods depending on the tech involved.
Certainly the intention to carry out purification in an industrial centre would further relieve pressure on the SDV basin fresh / ground water needs.
It should also be noted that SDV near Sierra del Antofagasta is in a low water stress risk location, as opposed to the Atacama basin in Chile and there are no competing users for its H2O requirements.
GXY also has obtained environmental approval for commercial production.
Elsewhere in Argentina Salar de Olaroz and Salar de Cauchari that are effectively adjoining is where Orocobre has their operation and LAC/Ganfeng has theirs under construction. This location is in a low water stress risk location but more importantly the geology of the Salar is quite unique in terms of lithium extraction and due to a number of factors, brine extraction has nil to minimal effect on the fresh water table component of the basin.
Personally I believe Orocobre to be the model of sustainable brine extraction, not only due to it's well managed water usage but also lack of tailings dam and waste material mirroring the natural content of the Salar.
https://hotcopper.com.au/threads/or...ability.4914990/?post_id=40066386&embed=1
Here is the sustainability report
https://www.orocobre.com/wp/?mdocs-...cnWDsFkpaEEaK4Gn7QN_7&cshid=1577641268835
As I have said before responsible brine operators should not be tarred with the same brush as SQM in the Atacama basin in Chile. Both Livent and Orocobre have proven themselves to be sustainable and it is a focus for theor operational planning.
The SDV location is one of the most remote inhospitable to life locations on Earth. It is a desert salt lake at an altitude of 4000m and H2O evaporated from brine in ponds will fall as rain.
It should also be noted that brine production has a significantly lower carbon footprint than Hard Rock, particularly but not restricted to the conversion stage where the spodumene concentrate is roasted to 1000°C prior to leaching to remove the minerals.
Now it could be argued that the locations of Australian mines have no competing users for their water usage, however the same can be said for Orocobre, Livent and SDV.
No mining operations can claim to have zero impact on the environment, however harnessing the power of the sun and wind through evaporation of brine in ponds in a responsible sustainable manner is about as close to it as possible.
A further benefit of evap ponds vs hard rock mines is the ease in rehabilitating the site to its original state.
The brine (not fresh water) contained in those ponds has no other use and it could be argued that the evaporation when falling as rain ‐ as any 5th grade will tell you happens when the moisture hits the mountains that created the desert - could possibly offset some of the effects of climate change in the region.
