What this place is
Brine is pumped from beneath the salt crust into ponds and left to the sun for a year or more. The desert does most of the processing for free — but the water accounting is contested.
What comes out
Lithium
A soft, silvery metal so light it floats on water, and the element that lets a rechargeable battery store a lot of…
Potash
Potassium salts mined from ancient dried-up seas — the K in NPK fertiliser, which plants need to move water and…
Boron
An element that makes glass resist thermal shock, fibreglass strong, and — with iron and neodymium — the strongest…
A “by-product” is a metal recovered because it happens to be in the same rock, not because anyone went looking for it. Its supply therefore follows the primary metal’s economics, not its own.
Who owns it
| Company | Role | Interest |
|---|---|---|
| Albemarle | Chemical | Operator of one concession |
| Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile | Chemical | Operator of one concession |
As publicly reported by the operators. Ownership of large mines changes; verify against current company filings before relying on it.