Lithium in Extinct US Volcano - More Smoke Than Fire?

On August 30th a scientific paper discussed lithium in an extinct volcano in the western United States. But would it also increase supplies of a crucial battery-making ingredient? "The mining industry is seldom that simple," argues Bloomberg's Energy Digest newsletter:The discovery of new deposits - be it the giant Simandou iron ore mine in Guinea or diamonds in Canada's Northwest Territories - rarely turns an industry on its head, and certainly not quickly. For lithium, that's likely to be especially true. Unlike cobalt and nickel, lithium isn't geologically scarce when it comes to economically viable deposits. And while there are short-term bottlenecks as the mining world reacts to a sudden spike in demand, few see long-term shortages. In fact, the supply outlook is so compelling that all but one of the biggest miners - Rio Tinto Group, which accidentally stumbled across a big deposit - decided it's not an industry they want to be in. Instead, much of the focus is on processing and refining the element into a grade suitable for batteries. "The news is a reminder that lithium isn't rare, but producing battery-grade quantities at scale is the true challenge," said Chris Berry, president of House Mountain Partners, an industry consultant.

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