Water shortage threatens the worldâs most abundant lithium reserves. (Or maybe rather: Lithium Mines threaten Water Reserves!).
Freshwater essential to lithium mining is running low in the worldâs âLithium Triangle,â a mineral-rich region in the Andean Plateau that stretches across parts of Argentina, Bolivia and Chile and contains more than half of all global lithium reserves.
In a study published last week in the journal Communications Earth and Environment, researchers found that the amount of freshwater locally available for lithium extraction is about 10 times lower than previous estimates. Global lithium demand, which is expected to grow by 40 times by 2040, could outpace the limited annual rain that supplies freshwater to the arid Lithium Triangle.
