Salar de Uyuni

Salar de Uyuni

 The Uyuni salt flat is an important lithium reserve and has significant amounts of potassium, boron and magnesium. It is located in the southwest of Bolivia, in the province of Daniel Campos, in the department of Potosí, within the highlands of the Andes mountain range. 

- Formation

The area that occupies this desert was covered 40 000 years ago by Lake Minchin Then came a dry and warm period, which produced a large reduction in the surface and volume of the Andean lakes, thus giving rise to the salt flats of Uyuni and Coipasa in addition to the current lagoons. The lakes Poopó and Uru Uru are also vestiges of these great prehistoric lakes.

- Composition

There are approximately eleven layers of salt, with thicknesses varying between less than one metre and ten meters. The crust on the surface is ten meters thick. The depth of the salt flat is 120 meters, which is composed of overlapping layers of brine and lacustre mud.

This brine consists of lithium, boron, potassium, magnesium, carbonates and sodium sulphates. A very interesting mineral is ulexite, the ‘television stone’. It is transparent and has the power to refract to the surface of the stone the image of what is below. This salt flat is considered to be the largest lithium reserve, although it is very difficult to extract due to the lack of water.

- The Triangle of Lithium

The triangle of lithium refers to a geographical area located in South America, on the border of Bolivia, Chile and Argentina.

The triangle is the Salt of Uyuni (Bolivia), the Atacama Salt (Chile) and the Salt of Dead Man (Argentina), so called because of the three salt flats located in the puna next to others close to them concentrate more than 85% of the known lithium reserves of the planet.

- Economic Influence 

The Uyuni wage, as estimated, contains 10 billion tonnes of salt, of which 25 000 tonnes are extracted each year. A report by the U.S. Geological Service points out that in the Uyuni Salt there are 21 million tonnes of lithium, becoming the largest global reserve of this mineral. All miners working in the payroll belong to the Colchani Cooperative. Every November, the Uyuni salt flat is also the breeding site of three species of South American flamingoes: the Chilean, James and Andean. This is also a significant tourist destination. The light touches that appear in the image, on the white background, include a hotel built entirely of salt and several islands. As the land of the salt flat is as flat as a transport route through the Bolivian highlands.