{"id":269074,"date":"2025-07-17T10:30:14","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T10:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/269074\/"},"modified":"2025-07-17T10:30:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T10:30:14","slug":"mining-companies-are-pumping-seawater-into-the-driest-place-on-earth-but-has-the-damage-been-done-global-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/269074\/","title":{"rendered":"Mining companies are pumping seawater into the driest place on Earth. But has the damage been done? | Global development"},"content":{"rendered":"

Vast pipelines cross the endless dunes of northern Chile<\/a>, pumping seawater up to an altitude of more than 3,000 metres in the Andes mountains to the Escondida mine<\/a>, the world\u2019s largest copper producer<\/a>. The mine\u2019s owners say sourcing water directly from the sea, instead of relying on local reservoirs, could help preserve regional water resources. Yet, this is not the perception of Sergio Cubillos, leader of the Indigenous community Lickanantay de Peine.<\/p>\n

Sergio Cubillos says mining activity has made the region unsuitable for cattle grazing. Photograph: Luis Bustamante\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

Cubillos and his fellow activists believe that the mining industry is helping to degrade the region\u2019s meagre water resources, as Chile continues to be ravaged by a mega-drought<\/a> that has plagued the country for 15 years. They also fear that the use of desalinated seawater cannot make up for the devastation of the northern Atacama region\u2019s sensitive water ecosystem<\/a> and local livelihoods.<\/p>\n

Water extraction has caused water table levels to drop, endangering springs, wetlands and surface water sources that support biodiversity and are vital for local crops and livestock. \u201cSeveral wetlands have dried up completely, and the vegetation has diminished considerably,\u201d says Cubillos. The community of Peine lies within a salt flat, where a delicate ecological balance makes the region highly vulnerable to any changes in climate. Cubillos says mining has exacerbated the effects of the climate crisis, severely depleting the community\u2019s groundwater reserves. \u201cThe mining activity has made the area unsuitable for cattle grazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mega-drought<\/a> is considered the most prolonged and widespread in a century, and the local population and mining companies are fighting for the right to water in the Atacama desert, the driest place on Earth<\/a>, where the world\u2019s largest copper <\/a>and lithium deposits<\/a> are located.<\/p>\n

The lack of rainfall has had profound effects on Chile\u2019s water resources, agriculture and ecosystems<\/a> and is severely depleting its freshwater reserves in the Atacama region<\/a>. Even mining operations have occasionally been forced to stop due to water shortages.<\/p>\n

In December, Escondida\u2019s majority owner, the Australian mining firm BHP, the US-based Albemarle and Chilean firm Zald\u00edvar were ordered to pay an unprecedented $47m fine (\u00a334.5m) for depleting the Monturaqui-Negrillar-Tilopozo aquifer and damaging surrounding vegetation.<\/p>\n

The Escondida mine, the world\u2019s largest copper producer, is in the Andean mountains at the heart of the Atacama desert.<\/p>\n

The environmental court of Antofagasta ruled<\/a> that the damage caused by the three companies \u201cnegatively affects the Indigenous community of Peine<\/a>, altering their systems of life and traditions\u201d. It ruled that the companies had exceeded the legally permitted limits on groundwater extraction, resulting in a decline of the water table by more than 25cm \u2013 an unsustainable amount for the salt flat ecosystem, according to the court.<\/p>\n

Chile\u2019s water authority had already raised concerns in 2018<\/a> over Escondida\u2019s water extraction. In 2022 Escondida appealed an $8.4m fine for non-compliance over this issue, but it was rejected.<\/p>\n

The environmental court\u2019s decision came after a negotiated agreement between the Indigenous community, the Chilean government and the companies involved. The fines are earmarked for environmental remediation, which in some cases includes investment in desalination.<\/p>\n

The mining sector is increasingly turning to the sea. About 30% of the water used by Chile\u2019s mines now comes from seawater<\/a> \u2013 desalinated or untreated \u2013 according to the national mining association. BHP says it has invested $4bn (\u00a32.94bn) in desalination infrastructure in recent years. As a result, the company says, it ceased extracting water from the Peine wetland in 2019.<\/p>\n

Its desalination plant in the coastal city of Coloso, about 170km (105 miles) from the mine, is the largest in Chile by capacity. \u201cThe company\u2019s first desalination plant opened in 2006, underscoring our pioneering role in the mining sector,\u201d BHP says.<\/p>\n

BHP\u2019s desalination plant in Coloso, Antofagasta, is the largest in Chile by capacity.<\/p>\n

Albemarle has also told the Guardian that it no longer uses groundwater from the reserve in its operations. \u201cWhile our company has never been a major water user in the area, this step is part of our long-term sustainability efforts on the Atacama salt flat,\u201d the company\u2019s communications manager says.<\/p>\n

Albemarle has further clarified that the use of seawater to remediate environmental damage is not included in the formal agreement by the court, though its website highlights ongoing investments in desalination<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Zald\u00edvar has declined to comment.<\/p>\n

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Cubillos, who took part in the negotiations, acknowledges the shift. \u201cIt\u2019s positive that companies have stopped exploiting groundwater reserves,\u201d he says. \u201cHowever, the desalinated water does not reach our lands.\u201d<\/p>\n

The three companies that the court found responsible for depleting Peine\u2019s groundwater produce roughly half of Chile\u2019s copper and a third of its lithium.<\/p>\n

Mining accounts for about a fifth<\/a> of Chile\u2019s gross domestic product, and minerals \u2013 particularly copper and lithium, which are essential for the global green transition \u2013 are the country\u2019s main exports<\/a>. Chile supplies about 13% of the copper<\/a> and 80% of the lithium carbonate and refined lithium imported into the EU<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The desalination plant in Coloso.<\/p>\n

Lithium is critical for electric vehicle batteries, while copper underpins most renewable energy technologies and infrastructure. The global green transition is projected to substantially increase demand for copper and lithium<\/a>. For Chile, this implies escalating water requirements for mining operations.<\/p>\n

Despite advances in desalination, mining remains a major consumer of fresh water, accounting for about 50%<\/a> of regional reserves in the north. Chile\u2019s ministry of mining projects that total consumption of water will go up by about 20%<\/a> by 2034.<\/p>\n

Desalination and transporting seawater inland also come with environmental costs. These are energy-intensive processes, and studies forecast<\/a> that CO2 emissions from Chile\u2019s desalination plants could reach up to about 700,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent <\/strong>annually by 2030 \u2013 about the same as Antigua and Barbuda<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A drinking water tank in the Atacama desert. A court has found that groundwater extraction in the area has reduced the water table.<\/p>\n

Only a small share of these plants operate on renewable energy, according to Sebasti\u00e1n Herrera-Le\u00f3n, an assistant professor at the University of O\u2019Higgins. \u201cCurrently, desalination plants in Chile are powered by the national grid, which draws from both fossil fuels and renewables,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

He identifies two ways forward: either desalination plants must integrate dedicated renewable energy sources, or the national energy grid must complete its transition to renewables.<\/p>\n

Artisanal fishers in Antofagasta say they have to go further out to sea as marine animals become more scarce.<\/p>\n

Desalination may <\/strong>also transfer environmental risks from the desert to the ocean. In Antofagasta, a coastal town in northern Chile near where Escondida\u2019s desalination plant and port are located, local fishers have already noticed changes.<\/p>\n

\u201cFish populations are dying. Escondida\u2019s port has long polluted the sea, and the desalination plant makes things worse,\u201d says fisher Nelson Fornerod Guti\u00e9rrez, 82.<\/p>\n

Marine biologist Elizabeth Soto of the NGO Terram<\/a> says that brine discharge from desalination poses a threat to aquatic biodiversity. \u201cImproved spatial planning is essential for desalination plant siting. Constructing facilities along the entire coastline without accounting for environmental impacts is unsustainable,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Mining companies own 17<\/a> of Chile\u2019s 24 operational desalination plants, with more planned along the Pacific coast<\/a>. About 75%<\/a> of the country\u2019s desalination capacity serves the mining sector.<\/p>\n

The Indigenous community living in Peine fear irreversible damage has been done to the environment they depend on.<\/p>\n

While desalinated seawater has eased pressure on dwindling inland sources, the Indigenous community of Peine remains wary. The damage may already be irreversible, they fear, damaging the salt flats and their waters, which are as vital as they are sacred to the Lickanantay people.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe continue to resist mining companies,\u201d says Cubillos, \u201cto assert that our Indigenous culture and worldview remain alive.\u201d<\/p>\n