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	0.000	0.000	0.075	0.075	629	4.342 M
ADV	ADV Ardiden Ltd	0.140	-0.005	-3.448	0.145	0.140	11041	8.753 M
AGY	AGY Argosy Minerals Ltd	0.018	-0.001	-5.263	0.019	0.018	3252993	26.207 M
AMD	AMD Arrow Minerals Ltd	0.027	-0.004	-12.903	0.030	0.026	6594100	22.981 M
ASN	ASN Anson Resources Ltd	0.062	0.002	3.333	0.063	0.058	931051	80.431 M
AVL	AVL Australian Vanadium Ltd	0.011	-0.001	-8.333	0.011	0.010	4617083	86.347 M
BMG	BMG BMG Resources Ltd	0.011	0.000	0.000	0.012	0.010	5426987	9.222 M
BNZ	BNZ Benz Mining Corp	0.370	-0.030	-7.500	0.385	0.355	1564376	68.372 M
BOA	BOA Boadicea Resources Ltd	0.020	0.000	0.000	0.020	0.020	12580	2.467 M
CUL	CUL Cullen Resources Ltd	0.004	0.000	0.000	0.005	0.004	503511	2.774 M
CXO	CXO Core Lithium Ltd	0.065	-0.004	-5.797	0.068	0.064	10601320	139.296 M
DEG	DEG De Grey Mining Ltd	2.170	0.030	1.402	2.230	2.130	36944641	5,251.796 M
DEV	DEV DevEx Resources Ltd	0.082	0.002	2.500	0.084	0.080	127086	40.812 M
DTM	DTM Dart Mining NL	0.005	-0.001	-9.091	0.005	0.005	6497970	3.439 M
EMH	EMH European Metals Holdings	0.240	-0.025	-9.434	0.257	0.240	207440	54.973 M
EUR	EUR European Lithium Limited	0.039	0.000	0.000	0.039	0.038	391381	56.362 M
GL1	GL1 Global Lithium Resources Ltd	0.175	0.000	0.000	0.185	0.175	33972	45.803 M
GLN	GLN Galan Lithium Ltd	0.145	0.000	0.000	0.150	0.140	6825474	126.001 M
HWK	HWK Hawk Resources Limited	0.024	0.002	9.091	0.024	0.024	50000	5.234 M
INF	INF Infinity Lithium Corporation Ltd	0.023	0.004	21.053	0.025	0.020	581701	10.870 M
INR	INR ioneer Ltd	0.140	-0.005	-3.448	0.147	0.140	6560639	334.505 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	0.002	17.647	0.010	0.008	1789759	6.201 M
LIS	LIS LiS Energy Ltd	0.105	0.000	0.000	0.105	0.105	63081	67.221 M
LIT	LIT Lithium Australia NL	0.009	-0.001	-10.000	0.010	0.008	19733428	13.429 M
LKE	LKE Lake Resources NL	0.031	0.000	0.000	0.032	0.030	2792279	56.993 M
LNR	LNR Lanthanein Resources Limited	0.002	0.000	0.000	0.002	0.002	--	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	0.475	-0.015	-3.061	0.495	0.460	16716039	1,170.041 M
MIN	MIN Mineral Resources Ltd	18.950	-2.080	-9.891	20.590	18.660	4505698	6,868.340 M
MLS	MLS Metals Australia Ltd	0.020	0.000	0.000	0.020	0.020	315327	14.574 M
MQR	MQR Marquee Resources Ltd	0.009	0.000	0.000	0.009	0.009	284809	4.855 M
NMT	NMT Neometals Ltd	0.059	0.001	1.724	0.059	0.055	1643475	45.396 M
NVA	NVA Nova Minerals Ltd	0.260	-0.010	-3.704	0.275	0.260	169710	81.627 M
PLL	PLL Piedmont Lithium Ltd	0.090	-0.003	-3.226	0.093	0.088	1446741	217.769 M
PLS	PLS Pilbara Minerals Ltd	1.365	-0.070	-4.878	1.415	1.340	37732203	4,360.295 M
PNN	PNN Power Minerals Ltd	0.070	0.001	1.449	0.070	0.067	147654	7.970 M
PSC	PSC Prospect Resources Ltd	0.130	0.000	0.000	0.130	0.125	1183144	74.446 M
RIO	RIO Rio Tinto Ltd	112.700	0.760	0.679	112.700	107.710	1986272	181,322.449 M
RLC	RLC Reedy Lagoon Corporation Ltd	0.002	0.000	0.000	0.002	0.002	35881	1.553 M
SRK	SRK Strike Resources Ltd	0.033	-0.001	-2.941	0.034	0.033	24790	9.648 M
SYA	SYA Sayona Mining Ltd	0.016	0.001	6.667	0.017	0.015	50692523	209.318 M
TAR	TAR Taruga Gold Ltd	0.010	0.001	11.111	0.010	0.010	21982	7.060 M
TEM	TEM Tempest Minerals Ltd	0.005	0.000	0.000	0.005	0.004	560000	3.173 M
TKL	TKL Traka Resources Ltd	0.001	0.000	0.000	0.001	0.001	516341	2.126 M
VMC	VMC Venus Metals Corporation Ltd	0.105	-0.005	-4.546	0.105	0.105	8765	20.594 M
VUL	VUL Vulcan Energy Resources Ltd	4.170	-0.320	-7.127	4.370	4.020	976683	898.585 M
ZNC	ZNC Zenith Minerals Ltd	0.057	0.002	3.636	0.057	0.057	259	23.224 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.