Responding to rising demand for lithium
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Unlike spodumene, the lithium salt lake does not need to go through high energy consumption processes such as calcination during the extraction process, and only requires sunlight as the main energy source in the early stage. That is to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels, and there is no excessive carbon dioxide and other combustion products.
And Cauchari-Olaroz has unique geographical advantages in the use of solar energy: it is located on a plateau, high altitude, thin and transparent air, less rainy weather, long sunshine time, low latitude, large annual average solar angle at noon, and strong solar radiation can be obtained. ; And the plateau terrain is gentle, suitable for laying salt ponds in a large area.
The project is adjacent to the largest CAUCHARI 300MW smart photovoltaic power station in South America. Compared with thermal power generation, the photovoltaic power station reduces carbon emissions by about 598,000 tons per year. The power station was completed in 2019 and is scheduled to be connected to the grid in 2020. After the Cauchari-Olaroz project is fully completed, the power generated by solar energy and solar evaporation will be used to extract resources from the salt lake, and to maximize the use of renewable resources in each extraction process.
At the same time, the fresh water required in the production procedures is non-drinking water standard water, and it supports regeneration to avoid water waste; choose a three-effect evaporation process to reduce water consumption and increase unit water output ratio.
The project is close to the cross-border highway, which can directly reach the port, which improves transportation efficiency.
In mining, processing, and transportation, use renewable resources as much as possible to reduce resource waste as much as possible, "committed to building Caucharí-Olaroz into one of the world's most environmentally friendly lithium projects", said Jon Evans, President and CEO of Lithium Americas.
Coexisting with the environment and following the rules of sustainable development are becoming another core resource evalsuation standard besides cost and quality.
On the other hand, the plateau area of Jujuy Province lacks pasture, animal husbandry and agriculture are difficult to develop on a large scale due to environmental constraints. Minerals and surrounding service industries (catering, passenger transportation, accommodation, etc.) can provide local communities with a lot of economic resources.
Social, economic and environmental, the Cauchari-Olaroz project always seeks a balance between the three.
In order to promote local economic development, the project will create at least 260 permanent jobs during the 40-year operation period; organize activities in the local community to work with partners of different ethnicities and beliefs; develop an environmental management plan and invite Sessa Biological and environmental scientists such as El Bracamonte and Juan Nadalino conduct environmental training on a regular basis.
When dusk comes, flocks of flamingos will fly to the naturally formed plateau lake to prey on plankton; sometimes there will be lonely llamas next to them, gnawing grass seeds. When the night slowly fell, the foxes and owls that avoided the scorching sun in the dark during the day came out of their nests and began their hunting...
As aborigines who have lived on this land for thousands of years, the wild animals on the plateau still maintain their ancestral habits. The Cauchari-Olaroz project is the answer given by Gan Feng on how to make humans and the earth's ecology coexist harmoniously under the premise of maintaining development.
