Protecting fragile ecosystems from lithium mining - BBC News - 0 views
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It was a nasty shock for the electronics industry as lithium is the key ingredient in rechargeable batteries that power everything from smartphones, to toothbrushes, to electric cars.
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Demand from electric car makers helped push the price of lithium carbonate to a peak of $20,694 per tonne in 2018, up from $5,312 in early 2015. The price then backtracked and was recently trading at around $6,700 per tonne. Producers have scrambled to raise production, but critics say traditional production techniques are damaging to the environment.
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The method used in the so-called lithium triangle countries of Bolivia, Argentina and Chile is also under scrutiny.The salt flats, or salars, of that region hold more than 75% of the world's lithium deposits and are likely to be the source of much of the future supply.Brine is pumped from beneath the salt flats into vast evaporation pools, a process that leaves behind lithium carbonate.
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