As demand soars for electric vehicles and clean energy storage, Australia is rising to meet much of the world’s demand for lithium. While this helps reduce the need for fossil fuels, it raises another question – how can we source lithium sustainably?
Brine vs. Hard Rock Lithium Mining
… The refining process carries environmental risks as its energy and chemically intensive, however Allison Britt, director of minerals advice with the government agency Geoscience Australia, says the process of extracting lithium in Australia is not much different to other forms of metals mining. When an economically viable resource is identified, the surface is cleared, the earth is scraped away, the rock blasted and the rubble hauled off for processing into concentrate.
“Each hard rock deposit is its own unique beast,” Britt says. “At a higher-grade deposit, you dig up less rock compared to lithium produced.”
In South America the process is more like playing with a big, fiddly chemistry set. As the lithium lies at the bottom of a salt lake, it is usually mixed with a range of other minerals. Getting it out requires pumping brine out from beneath the bottom of a salt lake into a pit and then waiting for the water to evaporate in the sunlight until lithium concentrations reach 6,000 parts per million. It is a thirsty process – requiring roughly 1.9m litres (418,000 gallons) of water to produce one tonne (2,204lbs) of lithium produced, all of it lost to evaporation – that always carries the risk of leaks and spills.
Interesting article. Despite the apparent abundance of lithium deposits it does not change my mind that the promise of “Electric Cars” for everyone is nothing more than a “Bait & Switch.” The “Switch” is you having no personal vehicle ever again. And Freeland better hope “Friend-shoring” is more than just a talking point.
