DYNA JOURNAL ENGINEERING

According to the US Geological Survey, it ranks 33rd in abundance on the planet, with reserves of almost 90 million tons, which have increased fourfold in the last four years due to intensive prospecting. It can be found in mineral form, but mostly as evaporation salts or clay deposits. After extraction from the deposits, it is not usually treated on site, but is transported to the consumer countries and processed there to obtain carbonate, hydroxide or lithium metal, 80% of which is used to manufacture batteries, 7% in ceramics and glass, 4% in lubricants and the rest in various other applications.
World lithium production increased from about 80,000 tons in 2020 to about 130,000 tons in 2022, and, at least without notable changes in current technologies, the increase in its consumption will follow a clearly upward trend in the coming years. The countries with the highest mining productions are the following:
Australia (60,000 T). It is likely to grow at a rate of almost 15%, reaching 110,000 tons in 2025. It has reserves of slightly less than 4 million tons, although less than Chile. Most of this production goes to China, in the form of spodumene ore, for processing.
Chile (40,000 T). It differs from Australia in that most of its production is obtained from the "salars", almost half of it in the Atacama salt flats. The current government seems to have ideas of nationalizing this production, now managed by the USA.
China (20,000 T). Although extraction is increasing, as it is the largest manufacturer of lithium products used for batteries (almost three quarters of the world's lithium), it is mainly based on the purchase of the mineral, especially from Australia.
Argentina (6,000 tons). Practically from nothing, it has risen in a few years to this position, exploiting the "salt flats" close to the area where Chile does it, and seems to have important reserves and development projects.
Other countries such as Brazil, Zimbabwe, Portugal, Canada or the United States, with smaller productions, also announce future expansion projects. Bolivia is a peculiar case, because although it has important "salars" such as Uyuni with proven reserves, it has not politically decided its exploitation strategy.