This map was built as part of an investigation into the global lithium mining boom by Columbia Journalism Investigations and Inside Climate News. Over several months, we collected, refined and cleaned data on lithium mining projects worldwide, tracking where they are located, which companies are behind them, and how projects intersect with communities and the environment. We are making this tool and the underlying datasets public so others can explore, use and build on this work.
Red dots show lithium projects from our dataset, including proposed, developing and operating mines. Blue dots show sites detected by an algorithm trained to identify features that resemble lithium operations. These detections can help identify discrepancies with public records or uncover unreported activity. Detection is not perfect—use with caution.
Use the search bar to look up a project or company name. When you search for a company, the map highlights all mines linked to that company. You can then choose a specific project from the results to zoom to that site. Click “Back” to return to the starting view.
Stay in the global view or use the dropdown on the bottom left to focus on selected countries. These are countries we chose to highlight because they have many lithium projects either operating or in early stages. For these, we added additional layers such as Indigenous lands, environmentally protected areas and, in the United States, the Social Vulnerability Index.
Our core datasets draw on information from the financial firm S&P Global, as well as company reports and filings, investor presentations, government databases and additional industry sources. We used Indigenous lands data compiled by Charles Darwin University professor Stephen T. Garnett and published in Nature Sustainability in 2018. Additional Indigenous territories data was provided by researchers at the Center for Investigative Reporting in Latin America (CLIP), who also published investigations on lithium mining in Central and Latin America. The algorithm-detected mine data was shared by Victor Maus from the Vienna University of Economics and Business and combines data from Maus et al. (2022), Tang & Werner (2023) and OpenStreetMap. Environmentally protected areas data comes from Protected Planet.
This mapping tool was built with tremendous support from Michael Krisch at the Brown Institute for Media Innovation, who we cannot thank enough for supporting us with this endeavor.
This is a research tool, not a definitive record. The lithium sector changes quickly; project locations are approximate; ownership and company data can change; and proximity alone does not imply impact. The data represents a snapshot in time based on the best available information.
This is an evolving tool, and we’re continuing to improve it. We’d love to hear what works, what doesn’t, and what would make it more useful.