Lithium-based energy transition through Chilean and Australian miningscapes

• Published in: The extractive industries and society 2024-03, Vol.17, p.101384, Article 101384
• Main Authors: Bos, Vincent, Marie, Forget, Gunzburger, Yann
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Australia; Chile; Humanities and Social Sciences; Infrastructure; Lithium; Materialities; Mining metabolism; Miningscapes
• ISSN: 2214-790X; 2214-7918
• DOI: 10.1016/j.exis.2023.101384

•The lithium industry embodies the multiple “materialities'' of energy transition.•Lithium landscapes reflect deep socio-technical and political organizations.•Through the miningscapes, it is possible to decipher specific connections enabling the functioning of the GPN through central and off-sites of lithium production. Over the past years, several anthropological, ethnological and geographical studies have analyzed the socio-spatial dynamics of lithium extraction. Others have focused on the relations between stakeholders at different scales, especially on local populations. The role of States and companies as agents of the global chains of minerals at a global scale has also been well documented. The local dynamics of lithium extraction and conflicts have been analyzed as a proxy for the political ecology of energy transition. While this research has been important in illuminating the local histories and forms of lithium mining, a conceptual lacuna exists in a more complete understanding of the intricate geographies of lithium. How do lithium materialities, within their landscapes, act as core hubs of global lithium-based energy transition? The analysis of two distinct cases of the lithium industry provides insights into how infrastructures and logistics play a role in articulating lithium socio-spatial dynamics and economic networks. The paper demonstrates how the range of sites of activity, as well as the transport routes between them and lines of energy, are key elements in thinking about the 'materiality' of the industry. The connections between extraction sites and transformation sites, and between the infrastructures in each site, can be analyzed through their landscapes as each process is spatially inscribed and connected by unevenly visible infrastructures. The chemical processes of extraction and transformation of lithium fuel the normal functioning of site activities through these connecting infrastructures, producing resources used for rechargeable batteries that are in turn expected to fuel the global energy transition.