Lithium

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Lithium is one of the lightest alkali metals and highly reactive elements. Its name is derived from Greek word “lithos”, which means stone. It is extracted from two main sources i.e., ore mining and salt deserts. Australia is the main source of ore mined lithium, while Chile and Argentina are well known for salt deserts or salaras.

The majority of the world’s lithium is extracted from brine sources, which are found below lakes of high-altitude salt flats. The extraction of lithium involves drilling a hole and pumping brine to the surface with the help of water. The mixture is then left for many months for evaporation. The mixture is then distilled to extract lithium after 12 to 18 months.

The lithium demand has hit record levels in the past few years, and the two key contributors to this rise in demand are:

· An uptrend in digital technology coupled with smart technologies, which are integrated with lithium-ion batteries (LIBs).

· A surge in green energy usage and electric vehicles’ usage.

Lithium mining is often criticised for using excessive water and creating drought-like situations in various parts of the world.

Lithium and its compounds are predominantly extracted from hard rock sources and brine deposits. Historically, hard rock sources were mined but since the 1990s, brine deposits have been used to produce lithium on a commercial scale. Most of the existing lithium supply comes from hard rock mineral, spodumene, which is found in Australia and the United States, or is being extracted from brine solutions from salars in South America.

Lithium concentration in brine solutions is increased by solar evaporation in ponds. The evaporation process is a time-consuming one and could take up to one-and-a-half years to concentrate the solution to 6% Li content. Thereafter, the brine solution is used to produce high-value lithium compounds, including lithium chloride, lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide.

With disruptions in the cobalt supply chain, automobile makers are switching to low-cobalt battery chemistries. Low-cobalt cathodes for lithium batteries are anticipated to utilise lithium hydroxide instead of lithium carbonate as a feedstock. Seawater contains over 0.2 parts per million lithium. Some scientists have proposed electrolysis to recover lithium compounds from seawater, but it is not yet commercially viable.

Code	Company	Price	Chg	%Chg	High	Low	Volume	Market Cap
A8G	A8G Australasian Metals Limited	0.075	-0.001	-1.316	0.075	0.075	1448	4.342 M
ADV	ADV Ardiden Ltd	0.145	0.010	7.407	0.145	0.145	33370	8.127 M
AGY	AGY Argosy Minerals Ltd	0.021	0.000	0.000	0.021	0.021	2411209	32.030 M
AMD	AMD Arrow Minerals Ltd	0.031	-0.001	-3.125	0.032	0.031	2358073	27.085 M
ASN	ASN Anson Resources Ltd	0.060	0.003	5.263	0.061	0.060	969441	87.365 M
AVL	AVL Australian Vanadium Ltd	0.011	-0.001	-8.333	0.012	0.011	761285	94.981 M
BMG	BMG BMG Resources Ltd	0.011	-0.002	-15.385	0.012	0.011	2734152	10.899 M
BNZ	BNZ Benz Mining Corp	0.350	0.000	0.000	0.350	0.350	420032	73.055 M
BOA	BOA Boadicea Resources Ltd	0.020	0.000	0.000	0.022	0.020	332449	2.590 M
CUL	CUL Cullen Resources Ltd	0.005	0.001	11.111	0.005	0.005	200929	2.774 M
CXO	CXO Core Lithium Ltd	0.073	-0.002	-2.667	0.075	0.073	5537608	165.013 M
DEG	DEG De Grey Mining Ltd	2.080	-0.050	-2.347	2.150	2.080	28063087	5,215.824 M
DEV	DEV DevEx Resources Ltd	0.088	-0.006	-6.383	0.094	0.085	490679	41.961 M
DTM	DTM Dart Mining NL	0.005	0.000	0.000	0.005	0.005	200000	3.439 M
EMH	EMH European Metals Holdings	0.235	-0.015	-6.000	0.245	0.220	52725	58.430 M
EUR	EUR European Lithium Limited	0.038	-0.002	-5.000	0.040	0.038	103143	57.807 M
GL1	GL1 Global Lithium Resources Ltd	0.175	0.000	0.000	0.185	0.175	29126	51.038 M
GLN	GLN Galan Lithium Ltd	0.105	0.000	0.000	0.110	0.102	3529647	93.443 M
HWK	HWK Hawk Resources Limited	0.022	-0.001	-4.348	0.025	0.022	638218	5.234 M
INF	INF Infinity Lithium Corporation Ltd	0.025	-0.003	-10.714	0.027	0.023	611014	9.714 M
INR	INR ioneer Ltd	0.145	0.000	0.000	0.150	0.145	1097603	353.351 M
KOR	KOR Korab Resources Ltd	0.008	0.000	0.000	0.008	0.008	--	2.936 M
KTA	KTA Krakatoa Resources Ltd	0.009	0.000	0.000	0.009	0.009	142222	5.581 M
LIS	LIS LiS Energy Ltd	0.110	0.000	0.000	0.110	0.110	25495	80.025 M
LIT	LIT Lithium Australia NL	0.010	0.001	11.111	0.010	0.009	1701359	16.786 M
LKE	LKE Lake Resources NL	0.032	-0.001	-3.030	0.033	0.032	1417939	58.774 M
LNR	LNR Lanthanein Resources Limited	0.002	0.000	0.000	0.002	0.002	4100000	7.331 M
LPD	LPD Lepidico Ltd	0.002	0.000	0.000	0.002	0.002	--	17.178 M
LTR	LTR Liontown Resources Ltd	0.560	-0.025	-4.274	0.595	0.555	9697216	1,619.123 M
MIN	MIN Mineral Resources Ltd	23.230	-0.550	-2.313	24.400	22.950	1900080	6,868.340 M
MLS	MLS Metals Australia Ltd	0.020	0.000	0.000	0.020	0.020	45000	14.574 M
MQR	MQR Marquee Resources Ltd	0.010	0.000	0.000	0.010	0.010	234497	4.855 M
NMT	NMT Neometals Ltd	0.064	0.001	1.587	0.068	0.059	645827	51.552 M
NVA	NVA Nova Minerals Ltd	0.277	-0.003	-1.071	0.285	0.270	122091	95.755 M
PLL	PLL Piedmont Lithium Ltd	0.097	0.002	2.105	0.105	0.096	883591	235.967 M
PLS	PLS Pilbara Minerals Ltd	1.540	-0.050	-3.145	1.600	1.520	35934579	5,888.812 M
PNN	PNN Power Minerals Ltd	0.069	-0.005	-6.757	0.075	0.069	331964	7.856 M
PSC	PSC Prospect Resources Ltd	0.125	0.010	8.696	0.130	0.125	736524	71.583 M
RIO	RIO Rio Tinto Ltd	115.080	-2.020	-1.725	116.540	114.800	1219507	197,137.646 M
RLC	RLC Reedy Lagoon Corporation Ltd	0.002	0.000	0.000	0.002	0.002	--	1.553 M
SRK	SRK Strike Resources Ltd	0.034	0.000	0.000	0.034	0.034	134997	9.648 M
SYA	SYA Sayona Mining Ltd	0.017	0.000	0.000	0.018	0.016	50316891	219.323 M
TAR	TAR Taruga Gold Ltd	0.009	0.000	0.000	0.009	0.009	208466	6.354 M
TEM	TEM Tempest Minerals Ltd	0.005	0.000	0.000	0.005	0.004	845662	3.173 M
TKL	TKL Traka Resources Ltd	0.001	0.000	0.000	0.001	0.001	133659	2.126 M
VMC	VMC Venus Metals Corporation Ltd	0.115	0.000	0.000	0.125	0.115	264739	21.574 M
VUL	VUL Vulcan Energy Resources Ltd	4.600	-0.540	-10.506	5.240	4.480	1050823	1,120.511 M
ZNC	ZNC Zenith Minerals Ltd	0.060	0.000	0.000	0.060	0.060	30347	21.187 M

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Frequently Asked Questions

1. What are the major applications of Lithium and where is it sourced from?

Most prominently, lithium is used to manufacture rechargeable batteries for mobile phones, laptops, digital cameras and electric vehicles. Additionally, it is used in ceramics, glasses, alloys, lubrication and medicine.

The top three lithium-producing nations are Australia, Chile and China. Collectively, these three countries accounted for over 86% of the global lithium production in 2020 with Australia accounting for over half of the global lithium supply.With the burgeoning demand for electric vehicles, lithium’s demand is expected to grow rapidly in this decade.

2. Which are the nations with the largest lithium reserves in the world?

The lithium price continues to grow as the demand for EVs exceeds supply due to material and refinery bottlenecks. However, lithium is not a scarce mineral. It is the 33rd most widely available element on the earth and is spread across in trace amounts in seawater, soils, rocks, surface and groundwater.

China, Chile, and Australia hold the world’s largest reserves. Almost 63% of the global reserves are found within the lithium triangle, a region shared by Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile. Furthermore, Central and Latin American countries such as Mexico and Peru hold more than three million tonnes of lithium in reserves.

3. How much lithium does the world use?

The global market for alkali metal-lithium is growing rapidly. The period between 2008 and 2018 alone saw annual production in the major producing countries rise multifold. Lithium’s usage in EV batteries has been an important source of demand growth. Lithium is also used in laptop and cell phone batteries, as well as in the glass and ceramics industry

4. Where does Australia stand on the global lithium map?

Lithium occurs in predominantly two categories, hard rock sources, specially spodumene (Li2O.Al2O3.4SiO2), and salts, consisting of lithium-rich brines. Australia is among the leading producer of lithium from hard rock sources, while lithium in brines is produced in Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, China and the US.

Lithium’s supply from Australia is sourced from its current resources and mines that mostly produce spodumene along with other lithium-based minerals such as lepidolite. These minerals usually have an average grade of 1% to 3% Li2O and are associated with tin and tantalum mineralisation.

Almost all of the Australian resources are linked to granite pegmatites of the Archean age with major lithium deposits located within the Yilgarn Craton and Pilbara region of Western Australia. Currently, the lithium global output is estimated to rise to 944,000 tonnes by 2024. The rapid growth will be met by increased output from Australia, Chile and Argentina. The current mining and brine supply is insufficient to meet the burgeoning demand for lithium.