Generations of Bolivians have mined salt on the Salar de Uyuni. Now it is the site of lithium extraction (image: Luca Galuzzi)The remote Amazon, the Bolivian highlands, and the Sonoran desert in Mexico are rich in culture and biodiversity on one hand, and in geological endowments on the other.
Some estimates put Latin America’s combined reserves of these elements at 50 million tonnes, or roughly 40% of known global supply. Mining technology metals presents a conundrum: is the sacrifice of local environments and livelihoods a fair price to pay for the proliferation of clean energy technologies?
Technology metals are so named because they are essential for modern technology as we know it, and are indispensable to the transition to clean energy technology. The practices of mining companies are as diverse as the landscapes they excavate.
