Water management

While local communities (i.e. a few isolated families, the closest of which are located more than 10 km from the site), along with flora and fauna, depend on surface water that comes from rainfall in the mountains, we don't. Our plant uses water that comes from a depth of between 90 and 140 metres. Preserving the environment and its resources is a key priority for Eramet, as demonstrated by our water management policy.

The plant does not extract any surface water and only uses 38% of the annual groundwater replenishment, thereby allowing the water reserves to be constantly topped up. Additionally, the plant uses reverse osmosis and forced evaporation to achieve a 60% recycling rate of process water.

There is no competition for freshwater in Centenario-Ratones. We are the only industry in the area. The closest neighbors, a few puesteros (16 people altogether) are living for the closest at 11 km from the plant. The village of Santa Rosa de los Pastos Grandes is located 50 km away. There is no forest and only a few animals living in this very arid valley.

We also mitigate our brine consumption with our Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) technology. With a 90% yield, our technology allows us to pump half as much brine compared to the conventional natural evaporation process for the same results. This enables us to use the deposit for a longer period. An external study model has shown that, after 20 years of operation, only 6% of the total brine in the deposit will have been be pumped.

Despite these achievements, our teams remain dedicated to further reducing freshwater consumption, continually striving for greater water efficiency, by reducing needs and recycling.