EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Challenge The Atacama Desert in northern Chile is the driest place on earth. Even the hardiest of plants find it difficult to survive in this parched land, where some weather stations have never seen rain and river beds have remained dry for 120,000 years. But the barren surface hides rich mining seams, with some of the world’s largest deposits of copper, sodium nitrate, gold, silver, iron, and other minerals. This mineral

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