In northern Chile, the Atacama salar and surrounding area is one of the world’s leading reserves of copper and lithium. With 5.2 million tonnes produced every year, Chile is the world’s leading producer of a conductive metal that is vital to the ongoing energy transition. However, like lithium, the extraction of this mineral requires an enormous amount of water in a region that is already one of the driest in the world, where many communities depend on agriculture for their livelihood. A region whose landscapes are among the oldest on the planet is now under threat. TIMES PARALLAX scans this territory, where rural communities and mining sites cohabit, revealing a geological landscape dating back millions of years, parasitized by the electromagnetic interference of a race more frenetic than ever for its resources.
