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	0.070	0.001	1.449	0.070	0.070	4264	4.168 M
ADV	ADV Ardiden Ltd	0.145	0.005	3.571	0.150	0.145	94439	9.378 M
AGY	AGY Argosy Minerals Ltd	0.020	0.001	5.263	0.020	0.019	572005	27.663 M
AMD	AMD Arrow Minerals Ltd	0.021	0.000	0.000	0.022	0.020	681997	18.787 M
ASN	ASN Anson Resources Ltd	0.053	-0.001	-1.852	0.055	0.053	505890	74.884 M
AVL	AVL Australian Vanadium Ltd	0.011	0.000	0.000	0.012	0.011	4368438	86.347 M
BMG	BMG BMG Resources Ltd	0.010	0.001	11.111	0.010	0.009	337046	8.384 M
BNZ	BNZ Benz Mining Corp	0.385	0.010	2.667	0.385	0.375	92999	82.611 M
BOA	BOA Boadicea Resources Ltd	0.017	0.000	0.000	0.017	0.017	18454	2.097 M
CUL	CUL Cullen Resources Ltd	0.004	0.000	0.000	0.004	0.003	225068	2.774 M
CXO	CXO Core Lithium Ltd	0.070	-0.001	-1.409	0.071	0.069	3449867	152.154 M
DEG	DEG De Grey Mining Ltd	2.460	0.000	0.000	2.460	2.460	--	5,915.070 M
DEV	DEV DevEx Resources Ltd	0.083	0.000	0.000	0.085	0.080	263640	35.335 M
DTM	DTM Dart Mining NL	0.003	-0.002	-40.000	0.005	0.003	12409271	3.439 M
EMH	EMH European Metals Holdings	0.205	-0.010	-4.651	0.220	0.205	194527	48.750 M
EUR	EUR European Lithium Limited	0.052	-0.001	-1.887	0.054	0.051	310965	75.149 M
GL1	GL1 Global Lithium Resources Ltd	0.170	0.005	3.030	0.170	0.165	350543	41.877 M
GLN	GLN Galan Lithium Ltd	0.105	0.005	5.000	0.105	0.100	1905780	88.201 M
HWK	HWK Hawk Resources Limited	0.018	0.000	0.000	0.018	0.018	--	5.234 M
INF	INF Infinity Lithium Corporation Ltd	0.021	0.000	0.000	0.021	0.020	1005000	10.870 M
INR	INR ioneer Ltd	0.140	0.010	7.692	0.142	0.130	3603797	318.016 M
KOR	KOR Korab Resources Ltd	0.008	0.000	0.000	0.008	0.008	--	2.936 M
KTA	KTA Krakatoa Resources Ltd	0.010	0.000	0.000	0.010	0.010	761634	6.201 M
LIS	LIS LiS Energy Ltd	0.105	-0.005	-4.546	0.110	0.102	126806	67.221 M
LIT	LIT Lithium Australia NL	0.008	0.000	0.000	0.009	0.008	429638	15.215 M
LKE	LKE Lake Resources NL	0.031	0.000	0.000	0.032	0.030	3991434	60.622 M
LNR	LNR Lanthanein Resources Limited	0.002	0.000	0.000	0.002	0.002	285000	4.887 M
LPD	LPD Lepidico Ltd	0.002	0.000	0.000	0.002	0.002	--	17.178 M
LTR	LTR Liontown Resources Ltd	0.635	0.095	17.593	0.635	0.550	28104934	1,218.590 M
MIN	MIN Mineral Resources Ltd	21.060	0.320	1.543	21.305	20.490	2056653	4,182.907 M
MLS	MLS Metals Australia Ltd	0.019	0.000	0.000	0.019	0.019	44000	13.846 M
MQR	MQR Marquee Resources Ltd	0.009	-0.001	-10.000	0.009	0.009	25760	4.369 M
NMT	NMT Neometals Ltd	0.079	0.001	1.282	0.079	0.076	375977	57.707 M
NVA	NVA Nova Minerals Ltd	0.325	-0.005	-1.515	0.330	0.320	429095	106.743 M
PLL	PLL Piedmont Lithium Ltd	0.115	0.015	15.000	0.115	0.107	1254340	257.721 M
PLS	PLS Pilbara Minerals Ltd	1.470	-0.010	-0.676	1.485	1.432	35315881	4,762.536 M
PNN	PNN Power Minerals Ltd	0.063	0.006	10.526	0.063	0.056	1318309	6.994 M
PSC	PSC Prospect Resources Ltd	0.150	0.010	7.143	0.150	0.140	73770	97.690 M
RIO	RIO Rio Tinto Ltd	114.980	-1.100	-0.948	115.760	114.380	1054053	189,594.173 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	0.035	0.000	0.000	0.035	0.035	62822	9.931 M
SYA	SYA Sayona Mining Ltd	0.018	0.001	5.882	0.018	0.017	10409350	207.779 M
TAR	TAR Taruga Gold Ltd	0.009	-0.001	-10.000	0.009	0.009	466044	7.060 M
TEM	TEM Tempest Minerals Ltd	0.005	0.001	25.000	0.005	0.004	703479	3.173 M
TKL	TKL Traka Resources Ltd	0.001	0.000	0.000	0.001	0.001	--	2.126 M
VMC	VMC Venus Metals Corporation Ltd	0.110	0.000	0.000	0.110	0.105	111515	20.594 M
VUL	VUL Vulcan Energy Resources Ltd	4.640	0.020	0.433	4.640	4.490	235583	1,018.251 M
ZNC	ZNC Zenith Minerals Ltd	0.044	-0.001	-2.222	0.045	0.044	81018	18.335 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.