Previous spread: This region of the world has been exploited for its natural resources for centuries –
from silver and gold in the early days of the Spanish empire, sodium nitrate (used for explosives) in the
1910s and 1920s, and copper and lithium today. At Los Dones, about 130km north of Antofagasta, Maisel
observed the end result of that history: a huge field of abandoned sites where miners have excavated the
ground and come up empty-handed. “We’re laying this fabric of development over these formerly ‘pure’,
remote landscapes that are environmentally sensitive, and the rate is increasing so ferociously,” he says.
“What does that mean for us, when every area has become a site of development or resource extraction?” PHOTOGRAPHY: DAVID MAISEL/INSTITUTE11-19-FTlithium.indd 114 20/08/2019 12:48