Now, plans are being drawn up to double the plant’s capacity to 34,000 tons a year.
That will be good for local people, said Losada-Calderon, general manager of the plant, which is on the Olaroz salt flat.
He noted that 65 percent of the plant’s employees come from indigenous communities, though these operations, which suck lithium-rich water from underground, require many fewer workers than traditional mines. The company also has made $80,000 in zero-interest microloans for locals to launch contracting firms, for services such as catering for the plant. It says it has provided medical and dental services for 2,000 local residents.
Because of the jobs it offers, many among the Atacamas are pleased with the arrival of the lithium mining. Each position pays about $1,000 a month, a typical wage in Argentina and a very good one in this region. In Olaroz Chico, one of the six villages here and the one that sits closest to the plants, many expressed satisfaction with the lithium operations.
“Without lithium, we would be starving,” said Apolinar Nieva, who has worked for years as a miner, first in borax, now lithium. The lithium companies care for their workers much better, he said. “The lithium plants give us food, give us uniforms. They are really doing things legally. And they should — part of the land they’re using belongs to the community.”
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