Feeding our insatiable appetite for batteries

The secret of lithium’s success is that it is the third element of the periodic table, right after hydrogen and helium. Its tiny atoms, containing just three protons each, make lithium the lightest of all metals. All of which makes lithium an ideal material for lightweight batteries.

Approximately 70% of the world’s economic lithium deposits come from the ‘lithium triangle’, a desert expanse in the high Andes of South America that spans parts of Chile, Argentina and Bolivia. Recent changes in the region, including a shake-up in the way Chile manages the resource to a new, more business friendly government in Argentina, is luring foreign investors and will be vital to meeting the growing demand for lithium batteries.

Tom Hodgson, Chief Executive of Western Lithium, which is developing a new lithium plant in the country, told a mining conference in Toronto, Canada, earlier this month, that Argentina has been a do-not-invest zone for around ten or twelve years. However, a 180 degree swing in business outlook is offering a huge opportunity to investors and presents lithium as a more predictable and cost effective operation.

Bolivia has more identified lithium resources than any other country however, due to high rain fall levels and a mix of other chemicals, it may see the least amount of investment. Of the three countries, geologists say that the dry desert climate of Chile is ideal for lithium production. Chile’s government has said it sees public-private partnerships as the way forward and is planning to put more deposits up for tender.

The state has given permission to two firms, Chilean company SQM and US Rockwood Lithium, to mine the resource. In 2013, the two companies operating in Chile produced around 60,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent, out of total world production (estimated by the British consultant Roskill) at 150,000 tonnes. SQM extracts 60% of Chile’s production from the Salar de Atacama Salt Flats.

The Lithium deposits in the Salar de Atacama are richer than Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni flats, and because it is nearer the sea and located on a flat plain (as opposed to atop a mountain range), makes providing the infrastructure and roads needed for the export of lithium far cheaper.

The lithium triangle may hold the key to meeting the rising demand for rechargeable batteries. Even though reserves exist in other locations such as China and Australia, the growth in hybrid and electric vehicles will dwarf the current global production of lithium – for example, an electric car uses a quantity of lithium equivalent to around 700 mobile phones.