The use of water in Lithium production in the Lithium Triangle...

The use of water in Lithium production in the Lithium Triangle is becoming a far more sensitive issue - as evidenced by the excerpt of the article below by Aislinn Laing SANTIAGO, Dec 26 (Reuters):
”A Chilean environmental court has upheld a complaint by indigenous communities in the country’s northern Atacama Desert about the use of water by SQM, the world’s No. 2 producer of lithium. The decision by the First Environmental Court in the nearby city of Antofagasta calls into jeopardy SQM’s $400 million plan to expand its lithium carbonate production plant to feed appetite for the ultralight battery metal. Water has become a key sticking point for the expansion plans of both SQM and top competitor Albemarle , both of which operate in the salt flats of the Atacama, the world’s driest desert, which supply more than one-third of the global supply of lithium, a key ingredient in the batteries that power electric vehicles. Soaring lithium demand has raised questions about whether Chile’s arid northern desert can support current and future levels of lithium production.”
If this point of view gets traction with more of the local Provinces, it could really throw a spanner in the works for the “big boys” producing in that part of the world. This however doesn’t change the demand picture. Enter LKE with Lilac’s Direct Extraction technology and we could well have an answer that is favourable to those Provinces - giving us the local support needed to really get things moving post Pilot Plant stage.
Steve has already been on the ground in Argentina lobbying for support in recent weeks as seen by an earlier post. This could be a very smart move!