not an option. peace. i'm on and a rabbit a are stuck in the spanish border area. alongside other young people there waiting for a chance that will probably never come. shattered dreams starts june 18th on d. w. i oh, there's a new gold rush in the andes mountains. mining companies are trying to tap into huge reserves of lithium, known as white gold argentine and wants to attract $5000000000.00 in invest. not only for lithium mining, but also for electro mobility programs. i should really like to get germany is moving ahead with this technology as well, and we'll need a lot of lithium to power. those electric cars had 1000 people. here was the

pursuit of white gold can also have serious political consequences with lithium brought down bolivian government eligibility again. but can the lithium be extracted without damaging the local environment? some experts are skeptical and question the need for large scale mining projects. we're not familiar with and there's a family in europe really need to eat cars and it's re computer us. how will the mining of lithium affect the local residence and what impact will it have on the region sensitive ecosystem? but with okay, it's not about a share of the profits keys looking almost it's about our future and the future of our children with the

. ready in this is the large, the large, a unique cells, flat near the crest of the andes. in southwestern bolivia, beneath its crust, my, the world single largest deposit of the con. no one is the mayor of the nearby community of rio grande. why le supports lithium mining? because he believes that it will generate profits for everyone. this is thomas k. all of the communities near the soft flow and all of bolivia will benefit from the extraction of lithium. here you get the vendors have been if you ship about 2000 people live in rio grande,

the local economy is doing well thanks to income from the extraction of sodium borat, or borax y. last hopes that its lithium mining operations expand. as planned. there will be even more money for the local residence. there are huge deposits under the crust of the salt. like a pilot plan for extracting the white gold has already been built for libby as government wants to benefit from the increased demand for lithium. as more and more western countries developed electric vehicles, bolivian officials want to do more than simply export lithium. they also plan to develop processing plants and battery production facilities, which will create lots of new jobs that different centuries ago, bolivian silver was simply sent to europe. now we want to use this natural resource

to improve our lives in 2018 able moralities, bolivia, as president at the time, agreed to a joint venture with a german company, a c i. system is all the money. casey, as promised to help a bolivian state company extract the lithium, it would also build a processing plant and a factory for making lithium batteries. it seems to be a win win situation for both sides. a, c, i a s predicted a bright future event and toes, and if you like it, we will create a 1000 jobs directly. and $10000.00 indirect jobs before including those with the battery production. so in believe in the german auto industry will need huge supplies of lithium as it makes the transition to battery powered vehicles. so will car makers in other western countries? and that's good news for bolivia, argentina, and julie,

which have huge reserves of white gold. now your wireless supports the agreement in principle, but only if it benefits the local residence, the message musket thing as a broker, none of the people are entitled to a share of the profit will come in because lithium extraction will have a huge impact on the people of rio grande de la co, many others, you run the risk but there is more at stake here than just financial compensation. local leaders also demand that they have a say in the development of these projects. look, it says seems that our logistics co operative can help in the extraction of libyan when i'm there and we have the equipment that will be needed for this project that are support including truck support. it better there regardless of the market.

but in 2019, president morales put the joint venture on hold. in the wake of public protests in rio grande doesn't civil trucks are purchased in anticipation of coming industrialization, almost as perceived. i mean, we use these trucks to take the basins where wrong, lithium will be stored in there, but right now they're just standing around my production. but to come in there's hardly any opposition here to the joint venture. most local residents think the germans are the right partners for the project, including local politician to doro ali, the opposition comes from other parts of bolivia, where a lot of people think it's a bad idea. look at that as well as the germans can still save the project. so a lot of people were upset about the terms of the agreement movement. i mean,

i think the germans should take part in the me, but in other places some citizens committees are opposed. and they've got people riled up this in 2019. there were widespread demonstrations against the proposed joint venture. and in october, people took to the streets to protest alleged fraud in the recent general election . during this chaos wrongest cancel, the agreement with germany in early november, international observers did find widespread evidence of fraud on november 10th for alice resigned as president and left the country. now since then, lithium mining in bolivia has been suspended. even those who live near the salt flats now have their doubts about the joint venture agreement. one of

them is luis much aka a member of a citizens committee. as well as it was that the germans wanting to extract our lithium with a 70 year contract. now they want it to be a good partner. we didn't have the financial resources more of the technology that they handle here in bolivia, lithium lining has become a serious political issue. it's still not clear whether a foreign company will be brought in to get the extraction project moving agenda. in any case, lizzie, mining can to huge amounts of water, is worried that the local wells may dry up is a boost kelte the we need to find alternative ways to provide water for lithium production. so if they just tap into our reservoir, meant that will ruin our children's future from it than the for them, as the mayor says that environmental concerns like this are

important as bolivia decides which foreign company will take part in the project that you need. so last full, the world's largest reserve of lithium, which will be used in the batteries of the new generation of electric vehicles. large deposits of lithium are also found in the neighboring countries of lakes and arch tina. this is the so called lithium trying, which is home to nearly 60 percent of the world's supply of white gold. the much of the world's lithium is found in bryan reservoirs that lie just below the surface of the desert areas of the andes region . ah, these include chillies come a desert. this area is considered the world's driest with an average annual

rainfall of just 15 millimeters. the salt flats are all that's left of sailing lakes that developed millions of years ago. the surface water is scarce here, and it is vital for the survival of wildlife like these flamingos that julian company, s q m, has been mining lithium for 25 years at a facility on the article. amazon flat, s q in is the world's number 2, producer of lithium workers pump brian to the surface from a depth of 40 meters. the bright has been placed in basins where the liquid evaporates over several months, leaving behind lithium slag. this process uses a lot of water pipelines run across the desert floor to supply the mining facility . when the water comes from wells that tap into the ground water

button, a local resident, christiane to rocco is opposed to mining operations here because they're depleting the reservoirs on it that one the lower than they see is that this mining operation has been set up on land for that belongs to the indigenous peoples case. now, if you can damage ok, and the company is using up our underground water supply. 15 2nd though low to rock says that some rivers in this region are running low. others have dried up altogether. he blames this situation on climate change and on water intensive mining operations in wilco and lives in the village of tucker. now located on the edge of the sun flat,

about 700 people live here. christiane works as a surveyor and also farms. a small plot of land like his father and grandfather did . christian's father says that large scale, lithium mining is mostly responsible for the drop in the local water supply. and what should i can't does if, whether a lot of people have moved away because there's not enough water, which one of you and if you don't have water, you can't grow crop. i had to a lot of people who really oh, this situation has been confirmed by christina door, a daughter, a biologist who has studied the environmental impact of mining operations. sentiment that i saw in my dallas satellite images taken over the last 20 years, so indicate that the soil has lost moisture vehicle. the ground temperature is rising and there's been

a decrease in the amount of vegetation. these changes are the direct result of the expansion of lithium mining on the sun. what are the little this is a serious threat to the areas fragile ecosystem. it affects the micro organisms in the lagoons and the flamingos that consume them. okay, so this is an example of what we call climate change as well as more water and brian is pumped out of the ground, the water level in the middle. this raises the water temperature, which leads to evaporation loss tickets. up on the bottom line is that is accelerates the loss of water from the salt reliability. i was both alone. we weren't allowed to film at the s q in mind because of covered restrictions, but company vice president pablo alchemy arrest says that the company has reduced water consumption in recent years and will continue to do so. sort of thing. i want

to say we monitor water extraction and more than 250 locations in. we also monitor the water level of the and we make all of this data public. you think it was a fully thought, christiane. her uncle has doubts about the company's operations. is when a able, oh you that over the others in the, in the so far, the s q m has not bother to take the concerns of the local residents. seriously though, susan and we're upset about that. and that when you get it, they take the lithium out of the ground and then sell it. and europe as a clean product. i mean, you know, you and i would open the system, but as far as i'm concerned and that's alive fuel. and then when i mean, some of the boom in lithium production will likely create even more water shortages. and that's

a serious cause for concern. so not only people who live near the salt lake have filed several lawsuits against the mining companies, claiming that they use more water than was allowed to fix them. and she leaves the only country in the world where the water supply is owned by private company. if things continue like this, the salt lake will dry up in 10 to 20 years before their select s q m says it does use environmentally friendly technology. but i will proceed a little bit. our company needs to expand to produce more lithia, but that production has to be sustainable, but the concept of electoral mobility is based on sustainability. nope of him. so we are committed to using production methods that are sustainable. some of the i a few kilometers

away across the border in argentina and increase in lithium mining could also create water shortages ah. for years the local indigenous people have made their living by mining salt. and they don't need a lot of water to do it. for the rest year in the ocean and we extract the salt in a sustainable way. it's a resource that renews itself. dina's hours salt lake or one of arch in tina 7 wonders come in. they attract a lot of tourists, including foreigners, with the national, not uploading, c ah, but tourism is down because of the pandemic. the few visitors are here today posing for pictures in front of a striking natural landscape. but they can't fail to notice the protest signs put

up by opponents of lithium mining. us in the legion, lithium itself is not the problem. i mean, it's whether the water becomes contaminated, or if they can deal with that. i think argentina should produce lithium in a sustainable way. and most of those who make their living from tourism and mining salt, believe that lithium production poses a real threat. i don't want them to start not an elite. it'll scare away all of the tours and you know, the mid to the, one of the leaders of the local anti lithium protest is clemente flores, like many people in chile, he's concerned that the water supply may be running low. lemme, and most of the for me,

me and the key is how much water the companies will use. whether they say one thing on their website. but that's usually less than the amount that they actually use. bought out flores points out that lithium extraction is just getting started in this region. but a chinese company is already building a new production plant. in they've built the drawing basin, so all they have to do now is fill them over there. you can see the pipes for the water that they pump up from below the surface. that water will evaporate during the production process. but then they add line to remove impurities from the lithium brian. and that's bad for the environment. well, not really. what i mean to me this lithium plant is owned by an australian japanese

company. nearly 40 similar projects are in the planning stages. argentina's government says it will expand lithium production in the coming years. there will probably not be any controls just like in chile lucas, he's the man that there's industry. we filed complaints and have held demonstration to try to slow the expansion busing. if somebody in the government has already issued permits for several projects, but no one is giving us any specific stuff that goes in or national agreement state that we have to be consulted in advance. it was for years, the indigenous people of who, who a province have been trying to stop the government from issuing lithium production licenses to foreign corporations. but the authorities are planning projects with companies from japan, china and canada. supporters say environmental damage will be kept to a minimum benevolence. a doubt. it blew us. numerous

scientific studies have shown that lithium mining does not threaten the water supplies of small farmers. the salt lake has its own water system in the when we pump brine there, it does not affect the fresh water reservoirs of the farming communities quickly about us. an idea argentine as government hopes that lithium production will help boost the countries ailing economy. that a reproduction facilities are already on the drawing board and argentine plans to build more electric vehicles for the domestic market. ah, if we are convinced that expanding lithium production will help us to successfully deal with the challenges of the future in china and europe. 20 percent of all vehicles are electra. argentina is way behind, and c,

m w is already a player in argentina's lithium market. the company predicts that 50 percent of all the cars it builds in 2030 will be electric. so they'll need a lot of lithium and have invested millions in argentina. b w says it will make sure that the lithium is mine responsibly. but you can find that in kind of like a failure process that we use does not introduce any solvent for chemicals into the environment. within the most of the brian that we extract is returned to its source, i think not to the of the part of this reduces water consumption substantially compared to other item i end up and as a pre production is planned to start in 2022. but local residents, and many scientists doubt whether lithium can be mined in such an environmentally friendly way waste. unity goes. a lot of

a lot of engineers believe that a salt lake is like a swimming pool. if you simply pump out the brine filter out the lithium and then pump the liquid back to the source. but this ecosystem has a fragile biological and chemical balance, and mining can ruin it. for less, of course i how will the lithium production affect a local environment? one person who's quite concerned about the situation is 11 year old will not grow chavez. she's been compared to swedish activist, greater tune deck in there, but we need to defend our salt lake for lithium mine and i'm worried about how it will effect. so production and water supplies, plants and animals and no envelope. government or children have to get involved in

conservation. otherwise our protests will achieve nothing that in this region will soon belong to them. on a similar me so far, florence and his neighbors have been fighting a losing battle. a number of big companies will soon start mining lithium here. but the protests will continue. flores has 7 children and 7 grandchildren. over the next 50 years, they may decide to leave the country. many to lands already have. flores often discusses this problem with his mother. and the earth is like a mother to us. you know that we have to respect her and protect derek and she gives us life in this. and she also protects us this damage. for generations of the flores, families live under one roof. they raise mommas and we've textiles from the womb.

ah, sure has complained that traditional life and the region is disappearing. many of the local young people have gone off to work for the mining companies and those jobs pay will we return to bolivia. the government says it plans to produce 40 percent of the global demand for lithium by 2030 and that's a pretty ambitious goal. but to do that, they'll need foreign partners. the final decision will be up to the ministers in the bolivian capital, la pas economist county romero, helped to negotiate the original deal with german company, a c. i. systems. olivia knows all about the money,

but of course bolivia must regain investors trust after the government cancel the a. c. i contract. people leave, you know, in 3, but some companies have benefited from that situation was compet and now they don't want the germans to get back into the game. you know, putting this delicious into the competitors include chinese and us corporations. ah, tesla founder, ellen musk is also said to be interested in tapping into the reserves driving the government has not yet made a final decision. after months of political chaos, bolivians elected a new president in october 2020 luis ourself is a former economics minister and was the preferred candidate of next president abel morales. the bonus i will that our government will represent the

interests of all bolivia and we will restore unity in our countries that are so proved, especially popular among indigenous voters. now he will have to decide whether to negotiate a new lithium deal with a c. i a s or find another international partner will believe on the what we must do everything we can to use the latest technology and move forward quickly with lithium production procession into the previous contract with germany would not have brought us the rapid industrial progress that we see, a lot of experts say a new deal. we'll have to clearly defined the rules of the participants and specify the distribution of royalties and profits. really fundamental changes in the

lithium production model are on the horizon. for example, the producers could be ordered to do more, to protect the environment a broad based group of july and citizens is now drafting a new constitution. in the wake of massive protests that began in 2019 biologist, christina, door to door was among those elected to draft the new constitution. lament that up and i demand that the salt lake be preserved over the long term. if we continue to pursue short term economical that will destroy them again though, there must be the lithium boom. ne, bring prosperity to the andes region. but at what price? we have. well, if we were to destroy our salt lake because of lithium production, and we'd certainly live to regret it. but i still many feel left out.

i didn't need lithium. i want to go on living like i do, you know what effect will the push toward electron mobility have on south america? price. my name, i don't day and i live in germany. electro mobility represents the development of clean vehicle technology to an end to the use of fossil fuels for seen in but it doesn't, but this transition cannot be made at the expense of fragile system like our salt sonata. and let me say to me, ah, the me india

in the, in the wages help, especially for culture focus on me a lot of ways to help me rolling along the hungry command valley radio station connect people contributing to environmental preservation instant comes in 30 minutes on ah ah ah

ah ah ah, this is the news live from berlin a moment of high stakes diplomacy at a time when us russian relations are at their lowest in years. president joe biden is in geneva to meet russia flood and we're putting the talks are expected to be 10 and expectations are low, but can they deliver any areas of agreement also coming up the slimy, floating.