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
Communication Services	ADV	ADV Advantage Solutions Inc	1.300	0.02	1.515	1.360	1.290	769,995	1,140.517 M
Technology	AMD	AMD Advanced Micro Devices Inc	136.845	5.055	3.562	140.230	135.120	37,491,996	268,889.342 M
Energy	BSM	BSM Black Stone Minerals LP	13.130	0.05	0.382	13.188	12.990	190,177	3,103.537 M
Energy	DTM	DTM DT Midstream Inc	105.820	4.09	3.721	109.900	104.190	514,625	5,215.100 M
Real Estate	ESS	ESS Essex Property Trust Inc	285.570	2.17	0.766	287.365	276.875	288,412	16,334.446 M
	INR	INR Infinity Natural Resources, Inc.	17.369	0.941	5.139	18.180	17.230	169,937	-- M
Financial Services	MIN	MIN MFS Intermediate Income Trust	2.705	0.005	0.185	2.710	2.690	58,114	315.813 M
	NVA	NVA Nova Minerals Limited	12.450	0.11	0.876	12.500	12.450	1,903	-- M
Basic Materials	PLL	PLL Piedmont Lithium Ltd ADR	6.070	0.25	4.296	6.150	5.820	161,412	198.331 M
Basic Materials	RIO	RIO Rio Tinto ADR	58.550	0.22	0.377	58.890	57.670	3,330,296	119,790.658 M
Healthcare	TEM	TEM Tempus AI, Inc. Class A Common Stock	59.890	3.65	5.744	62.800	59.417	10,447,983	7,918.109 M
Technology	TRT	TRT Trio-Tech International	5.320	0.1	1.845	5.564	5.564	754	20.306 M
Basic Materials	VMC	VMC Vulcan Materials Company	266.735	5.915	2.268	267.740	257.660	342,688	29,982.792 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.