India's first lithium find: 5 facts about ‘cosmic’ metal key for EV boost
Did you know lithium is the only metal to be born out of the Big Bang?
As lithium has been discovered in India for the first time ever, here’s a look at five interesting facts about the key component in the manufacturing of batteries for electric vehicles (EV):
1. The only metal to be borne out of the Big Bang, lithium is also the lightest metal. It produces an inflammable reaction with water - intense enough to burn flesh.
2. Mainly used in ceramics and glass, greases, pharmaceutical compounds, air conditioners and aluminium production, it is dominant in the battery materials market for the highest energy storage capacity per kilogram, owing to it being the least dense metal. It is extremely useful in cases where weight is a factor. For instance, a Tesla car can operate on a 600 kg lithium-ion battery. The same, if dependent on lead-acid batteries, would require 4000 kg.
3. Unlike lead-acid, lithium-ion batteries can be discharged down to around 10% capacity without failure, and recharged and discharged thousands of times.
4. Found as a solid mineral in rock, clay deposits, as well as dissolved in brine, more than half of the world’s lithium comes from Australia. Of the total lithium available, only 18% is currently accessible. Chile, Argentina and Bolivia are known as the ‘Lithium Triangle’ as South America sits on a ‘lithium mine’ possessing at least half of the total lithium in the world, as per US geological survey estimates. The world’s largest lithium deposit is in Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia, where mining is currently restricted due to government rules. Although lithium is limited, scientists have discovered that oceans hold an immensely diluted form of 180 billion tonnes of the metal.
5. California is not just home to Silicon Valley, but a ‘Lithium Valley’, too. Investors, policymakers, startups and energy providers are in the process of extracting the geothermal brines of the Salton Sea to mine Lithium in a ‘green’ way and build a battery manufacturing and innovation hub. The lithium reserve at Salton Sea region is expected to power over 50 million EVs in a few years.
The Geological Survey of India discovered 5.9 million tonnes of inferred resources (G3) of lithium at Salal-Haimana in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K)’s Reasi district. The ministry of mines made the announcement on Twitter on Thursday.
