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The Future of Lithium
Business News Americas, Jan 2010, Pages: 12
Lithium is in style. The promise of millions of cars powered by electric batteries has drawn the attention of every variety of investor. So much so, that lithium prices have tripled since the beginning of this decade, with prices now around US$6,000 per ton. However, over the last few months, the promise that lithium holds was put in doubt by several reports claiming that there are not enough lithium reserves to meet the demand that the mass production of electric cars is expected to generate by the end of the decade.
These arguments have been emphatically answered by many different industry experts from Keith Evans, a geologist and one of the most renowned lithium experts in the world, to large lithium producers like Chilean company SQM. Despite this, lithium mining still has some major obstacles ahead.
South America is at the epicenter of the metal’s future. The largest salt-brine lithium reserves, which out of all the naturally occurring reserves, is where lithium can most easily be acquired, are found in salt flats in Chile, South-western Bolivia and North-western Argentina. Currently, Chile is the world’s largest lithium producer and the Atacama salt flat is by far the most competitive in the world. Argentina is also producing and has attracted a variety of junior miners that are carrying out studies to begin developing new areas. Bolivia has one of the largest lithium deposits in the world and promises to be one of the main players in securing a future lithium supply.
This report takes a look at the future of lithium mining in South America, the difficulties that may arise and the outlook for lithium in the medium and long term.
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This title is also available in the following language
El Futuro del Litio (Spanish Version)
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