PNN General Discussion, page-498

Hi @shovel40,

adding to my post . . .

A poster has expressed concern about the remoteness of the salars especially in relation to the availability of a power supply.

It seems that a very energy intense step in producing a dried product from the DLE processes is the final evaporation of the eluent.

However in the high Andes there are two favourable factors,

low atmospheric pressure . . . favouring lower boiling points

high solar radiation flux . . . a ready source of thermal energy, and solar power to run vacuum pumps to further depress boiling points.

Refer ( Monitoring of Solar Irradiance in the High Andes ) , ( Water Boiling Point vs. Altitude ) and ( MIT Mechanical Engineering - Harnessing solar energy )

IMO the high altitude and low latitude of Catamarca will in time be seen to be advantageous.