The Lithium Mine Fields of Atacama Desert

(via Amusing Planet)  In the wastelands of Salar de Atacama, about 700 miles north of Santiago, Chile, is a huge lithium mine field operated by Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (SQM), a Chilean chemical company, and the world’s third largest produced of lithium. The thick slushy brine is pumped from the ground and poured into evaporation pools to dry under the hot sun. As the water evaporates, it leaves behind a yellowy material that yields one of the most precious metals of the 21st century.