The glistening brine pools of this large lithium mining operation in the Atacama desert of northern Chile belie the storm that is rocking Chilean mining company Soc Quimica Y Minera de Chile (SQM) for allegedly syphoning off SQM funds to a right-wing party linked to the disgraced 1973-to-1990 Augusto Pinochet dictatorship. Three executives of Canada’s Potash Corporation, which owns 32% of SQM – a lithium, iodine and plant nutrient producer – have quit the board of the Santiago-based and New York-listed SQM over the initial reluctance of the company’s controlling top brass to cooperate with the Chilean prosecutors probing a senatorial election campaign that is linked to an eventual deputy mining Ministerial position plus a currently-under-way corruption trial. The alleged $10-million in irregular payments was reportedly made between 2009 and 2014.