Australian mining company Orocobre extracts the lithium needed in electric car batteries from this giant pool of turquoise-coloured brine at a salt pan in Argentina. The Australian company is one of several lithium producers stepping up investment in Argentina amid expectations that President Mauricio Macri’s business-friendly agenda will transform the country into South America’s top producer of lithium, a position now held by Chile. Orocobre, which operates at Cauchari Olaroz, near Susques, plans to more than double its total production to 35 000 t of lithium carbonate a year by 2019, in conjunction with its offtake partner Toyota Tsusho Corporation of Japan.