Salar de Arizaro



Salar de Arizaro ("Arizaro" comes from Atacameno haâri "crow", "condor" and ara, aro, "accommodation", "place where something is common". ) is a large salt flat of the Andes in north-western Argentina. It is located between the villages of Tolar Grande and Caipe and near Mina La Casualidad, in Los Andes Department, Salta Province.

Overview
Located in the central-western area of the Puna de Atacama, it covers an area of 1,600 km2. Per extension, the Salar de Arizaro is the 6th largest salt flat in the World and the 2nd largest in Argentina after the Salinas Grandes.

The salar area is mined for metallic and non-metallic resources, as it is rich in  salt, marble, iron, copper and onyx.

The nearest salt flats are the ones of Antofalla, Hombre Muerto (both in the north of Catamarca Province), Pocitos (in the east) and the Salinas Grandes of Jujuy and Salta provinces.

The Salar de Arizaro is crossed in the middle by the Salta–Antofagasta railway and the Provincial Route 27 (part of the former RN 59). A particular characteristic of it is a conical hill named Cerro Cono (or Cono de Arita), a sandstone-formation.

The Salar de Arizaro is situated in the Lithium Triangle, and the area is being assessed for the extraction of Lithium carbonate by at least two companies: Lithium Chile and LiTHIUM-X

Literature

 * Gonzalo Monterroso: Touring Argentina - Salta. 1999, ISBN 9879821645
 * R. N. Alonso, J. G. Viramonte: Geología y Metalogenia de la Puna. Estudios geol. 43:393-407 (1987)