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Kadir van Lohuizen / NOOR
The salt flats, or Salar de Uyuni, which covers 4,000 square miles of Bolivia.
Photojournalist Kadir van Lohuizen traveled from the southern tip of South America to the far reaches of Alaska on the North American continent to explore migration in the Americas. What he found both supported and defied stereotypes, which he reported on a website and an app for iPad called Via Panam.
Landlocked Bolivia hasn't had much in the way of resources that it can sell to the world, but that could be about to change. It's home to the world's largest salt flat, which also is estimated to hold half the world's reserves of lithium — a light metal that's crucial for today's modern batteries for cell phones, laptops and even hybrid and electric cars.
Kadir van Lohuizen / NOOR
Workers at the experimental evaporation plant where the lithium is extracted bring tubes from the well to the basins. Workers are from different parts of Bolivia.
Kadir van Lohuizen / NOOR
Bolivian President Evo Morales celebrates the inauguration of the experimental lithium plant.
President Evo Morales wants Bolivia to mine the site itself, albeit with some foreign help. If it can pull off the logistics, it would mean sending an army of workers from all over the country to a remote part of Bolivia along the border with Chile.
The area is the Salar de Uyuni, which covers 4,000 square miles and where the salt layer is at least 400 feet thick.
Bolivia started preliminary work in April 2011, employing 150 workers. But progress has slowed, in part because the site still lacks a stable electricity supply.
Kadir van Lohuizen / NOOR
Due to heavy rainfall, much of the Salar de Uyuni is still covered with water. A tractor brings the workers to the experimental evaporation plant.
K. van Lohuizen / NOOR
From Colombians fleeing war to North Americans retirees moving to Nicaragua, a photographer's journey from Chile to Alaska explores both the expected and unexpected patterns of migration in the Americas
Japan, potentially a major buyer, recently urged Bolivia to speed up the project and meet its goal of a 6-month test run before moving on to commercial production.
Bolivia also faces competition from lithium mines in neighboring Chile and Argentina.
Still, it did get a boost in July when a South Korean company said it would help provide technology and training of workers.
Experience the entire journey, from Chile to Alaska, by exploring the slideshow at right, the Via Panam website or by downloading the app for iPad.
More Photoblogs from the Migration in the Americas series:
Mom works in US while family stays in El Salvador
US retirees flock to Nicaragua
On the run from water in Panama
Leave a Comment:
it really doesn't take a genius to see where the money is coming from Asian markets are going to crush this sensitive Country and people for the resources they desire, and due to the sad fact that America is loosing it leadership role it can not step in and say that we will be united to help protect these South American cultures and economies,
America (in it's leadership role), never helped to protect any South American cultures and economies. It only exploited them.
Santos - traditionallly when a SOuth AMerican countery has something the U.S> wants we just arrrange to change their government to one that will let us come in and take it. I'm glad President Obama willl not folllow this template.
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Apparently capitalism sucks unless socialists can exploit it for their own good.
Ya gotta love it.
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Crawl back under the bed. You obviously didn't read the article.
Bolivian resource mining has been the source of their pain for 150 years.... US and European mining interests came in, harshly treated the workers, paid them poverty wages, stole most of the resources and far under compensated Bolivia... so Bolivia has been taking this one slow...
I hope they don't get taken advantage of again.... but I'm not confident of it....
oh and evidence of lithium is more like 70-80% of the worlds reserve not 50% as said in the article... at the time when car batteries will be produced by the millions.... it could change Bolivia from one of the poorest countries in the world, to a vibrant new state.... if all the Lithium isn't stolen
Have you ever thought this works both ways. That is what makes countries work.
Its funny when people call China a communist country when it has as much capitalism as America. China has one million millionaires and ranks 8th in the world with people that have over 100million dollars! In America Capitalism is so important we had to save it at all cost, that is why we socialized it.
i suggest you read Richard Perkin's book Confessions of an Economic Hitman to see what we did to South America in the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s Talk about financial manipulations and the rape of indigenous cultures...sheesh
Don't have to read it, I was around reading the newspaper when Oliver North sold weapons to Iran illegally and made money personally. He also took some of the profit and illegally gave it to the Contras to support a civil war against the government in Nicaragua. At the same time America was promoting another civil war in Honduras supporting the government. Regan was part of this scheme but fired North as a cover up and said he was unaware of anything going on. Fired him, he should have went to jail.
Our involvement in manipulating Nicaragua goes back to before WW1.
And then there's the creation of Panama out of a corner of Colombia, with a 100-year Canal Treaty. But the Panamanians have landed on their feet lately, I think.
I'm sure Washington has plans in the works to turn over this are of Bolivia to their rightful American corporate owners.
As long as it's done via numerous layers of phony off-shore shell companies so it doesn't qualify as legitimate rape of a nation
I imagine you think it would be better if a Bolivian strongman similar to Hugo Chavez takes over the country and uses the lithium wealth to perpetuate his regime by repressing the people. Keep the evil capitalists out completely.
If this lithium extraction actually becomes successful, Bolivia could have a very nice income from the plant. Let's hope that big business doesn't try to step in and take it all away from the Bolivians who thought if it.
Lithium for batteries ...hmm...how much wind have they got or sunshine? If we could just get the GOP to stop hating Obama for 10 seconds and blocking green energy projects...nah...Go Korea and Japan. I guess... careful with the lithium poisoning to those workers though.
big windfall for the companies involved, pennies for the workers same as always
business as usual
What is going to replace the brine that is extracted for evaporation? I imagine that the dense brine is what supports the layer of surface salt. Seasonal rains can replenish to a certain extent, but once production ramps up might not large portion of the surface collapse, forming large, shallow sinkholes?
When they get finished it will be a 4,000 square mile salt water lake that will be too salty for fish to live in. Another dead sea in the making.
It's already a "dead sea". The pictures were taken after the rains. This "salt flat" is over 4000 square miles. And, yes, the flora & fauna (plants and animals) have already adapted to these harsh conditions. The mining WILL disrupt the ecosystem. But, hey, when has that EVER stopped humanity?
True, but if they can make a better battery for my phone I say start digging.
You are all missing the major dangerous point. One of the main ingredients for making METH is LITHIUM!
This will end up a war zone area for control of the product. They will end up losing more than they gain in
lives and profit and our soldiers have to help protect them so people can get higher? NO WAY!
Hmm?
Well, will Bolivia's "coke head" president switch from the country's most important crop, cocaine, to brine?
If anything, he will do his leftist best to sell his country out to the Chicoms and Russians just like his master is doing in Venezuela and like Castro did in Cuba..
As the Arabs say.....he will live to "drink sea water"....
One of the main ingredients to make METH is Lithium. Bolivia will
lose more than it gains protecting this valuable commodity not to
mention loss of life from the drug trade. So the US is supposed to
guard it with our troops lives for what , so some one can get even
higher? NO WAY !!!
Without those Asian companies, the salt flat can not produce any lithium even now. The logistic/infrastructure expenses (road, power, housing, school... for thousand of workers and their families) are the main problem. Bolivia will need to borrow a few billion dollars just to meet some of the needs. The workers will have to accept minimum wage so those Asian companies will invest a few more billions for mining facilities and some of the logistics. Mining in Bolivia looks like a risky venture to me so the rate of return will have to exceed 20% before management can convince the board of director/investors to buy the idea.
The companies will have to exploit Bolivia workers and it is the only way they can get lithium out of the salt flat.
And I thought lithium was what made my ex seem normal
Hmm: Wonder if we can mine our own Lithium??
We have salt flats of our own. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Salt_flats_of_the_United_States
I'm sure we have some out of work ,workers that would like to hire on.