China becomes World’s 2nd Largest EV-Battery Power with 30-million-ton lithium

According to the state news agency Xinhua, China has almost tripled its lithium reserves, making it the second-largest holder of this crucial element for renewable energy technologies worldwide.

The country presently holds 16.5% of the world’s lithium deposits, more than any other country save Chile, and it has surpassed Argentina, Bolivia, and Australia.

China’s lithium deposits, which were previously thought to account for 6% of global reserves, have significantly increased as a result of fresh deposit discoveries and sophisticated extraction techniques that enable the recovery of metal from a variety of minerals.

China recently declared that its lithium reserves have increased significantly. The lithium is found in a hard rock ore called spodumene, which is found in Tibet and is 1,740-mile (2,800-kilometer) in length. According to preliminary calculations, the spodumene belt alone might hold about 6.5 million tons of lithium, with possible concentrations as high as 30 million tons.

Further, investigations on the Tibetan Plateau have revealed salt lakes that are expected to hold more than 14 million tones of lithium, making them the third largest of their sort in the world. These findings increase the possibility of searching for equivalent reserves in geologically similar regions in the nearby provinces of Xinjiang, Sichuan, and Qinghai.

Technology advancements in extraction are essential to increasing China’s capacity to utilize recently found lithium reserves. Chinese scientists have made great strides in the processing of lepidolite, a mineral that was once thought to be difficult to harvest because of its high cost and technological problems. An extra 10 million tones of lithium are anticipated to be unlocked in Jiangxi as a result of this discovery, with potential for more in Hunan and Inner Mongolia.

In China’s quickly growing new energy sector, lithium is essential. It is an essential part of the production of batteries for various electronics and electric vehicles (EVs).

The nation’s need for this precious resource has increased due to its large population, quick economic development, and rising demand for EVs. Seventy-six percent of the world’s capacity to produce lithium-ion batteries was in China in 2022. Being the biggest consumer of lithium-ion batteries, China has made significant investments in its sourcing and manufacturing procedures during the previous 20 years.

Due to China’s historical reliance on imported lithium, production costs have gone up and the expansion of sectors that depend on this metal has been slowed. Beijing has responded by aggressively investigating fresh deposits inside its boundaries. This reliance will be lessened, and the economic impact of imports will be lessened, if large lithium reserves are found.

The process of extracting lithium, mostly from natural brines and hard rock ores, presents significant energy and environmental concerns. To create a better market environment, new technological developments are anticipated to ease this procedure and alleviate the worldwide supply pressure.

Additionally, Chinese scientists are creating novel extraction methods to access seawater and brines of poor quality, which has the potential to completely transform the sector.

Furthermore, China is expanding its mining activities in Mali, which has one of the biggest unexplored hard rock lithium reserves in the world. Despite supply saturation, stringent mining regulations, and security concerns, the project’s ambitious first phase intends to produce 506,000 tons of lithium yearly, with ambitions to treble output in the second phase.

Article Link: interestingengineering.com