fresh water and thus influences the groundwater at the edge of the salt flats. Copper mining, tourism, agriculture also consume significant water and climate change cannot be dismissed Iodine In 1995, Ajay Chemicals formed a jv with SQM, holder of the world’s largest known iodine reserves. Partnering with Ajay, the AJAY-SQM GROUP added Ajay-SQM Chile SA. This vertical integration with Ajay made SQM-Ajay the world's largest producer of iodine derivatives. Through the 2006 acquisition of DSM Minera’s iodine derivatives plant in northern Chile in 2006, Ajay-SQM Group added a fourth manufacturing site. The main application is X-ray contrast media. In 2019 its revenue was $371mio. Potassium SQM sells three potassium compounds, potassium chloride, nitrate and sulfate for a total revenue of $213mio in 2019. The chloride is obtained as a by-product from lithium production and sold for oil drilling, while the nitrate is made by combining sodium nitrate extracted from caliche and evaporation. It is sold as a fertiliser or a component of the heat transfer fluid in solar thermal power stations. SQM processes potassium nitrate at the Coya Sur plant in María Elena at 1,200 m altitude, and drives it 80 km to the port in Tocopilla, including in an electric truck. Industrial Chemicals Sodium Nitrate, from leaching caliche. This is the historical business on which the company's ancestors were built. Major applications include glass, ceramic, explosives and metal treatments. The other products in the is category are obtained directly or by a simple conversion from the evaporites obtained in the concentration of brine for lithium production Potassium nitrate, from sodium nitrate (from caliche) and potassium chloride from lithium production. Major applications include crystal glass, enamels, metal treatment and gunpowder. Potassium sulfate comes from the Salar de Atacama brines. The major application is in the manufacture of drywall panels. Potassium Chloride also from lithium production. The major application is as a stabilizer for oil drilling. Sylvinite is another by product of brine concentration in the Salar de Atacama, in which sodium and potassium chloride cocrystallize. The major application is a low-sodium substitute for salt in the food industry. Bischofite (Magnesium Chloride Hexahydrate) major applications include stabilizer, dust control and de-icing agent on roads. Salt (Sodium Chloride) also known as halite. Solar Salts: 60% sodium nitrate and 40% potassium nitrate used for energy storage in solar thermal power stations Total 2019 revenue for these products was $95mio. Controversies People associated