Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

© Theo Allofs/Minden Picture

Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

More than three kilometres above sea level, near the crest of the Andes mountain range, there is a salt flat bigger than many countries, an anomaly of the natural world. The Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia is the largest salt flat in the world at over 10,000 square kilometres. The salt flat is the remains of an ancient lake that evaporated long ago leaving behind a thick mineral crust that is both a source of edible salt and a critical breeding ground for three species of South American flamingos, who arrive every November at the start of the rainy season to feed on abundant shrimp. But for a battery-hungry world, the greatest riches might lie below the crust – a vast brine rich in lithium. Bolivia is part of the Lithium Triangle of South America and is believed to possess about seven percent of the world’s supply of lithium, most of it in the brine solution that forms the bed of the Salar.