Feature
A Legacy of Mining Busts Haunts Chile’s Lithium Dreams
Dozens of towns abandoned after a collapse in nitrate prices offer a cautionary tale for the next hot commodity.
SQM's operation at the Atacama salt flat where the company produces potassium products.
Photographer: Catherine Hyland for Bloomberg MarketsChile knows what it is to be expendable.
Ghost towns that pepper the nation’s north are a painful reminder of a time when it was replaced almost overnight as the world’s top fertilizer producer. These days, the decaying buildings and rusty plants serve as a harbinger for miners embarking on a major expansion of lithium.