Li • Atomic Number 3
Lithium
Lithium is a chemical element belonging to the group of alkali metals. It is the lightest metal with the lowest density under standard conditions.
Lithium is highly reactive and therefore occurs naturally only in compounds. In moist air, elemental lithium reacts upon contact with skin moisture, causing severe burns.
As a trace element, lithium can also be found in mineral water. Small amounts of lithium are present in the human body.
In its metallic form, lithium is a soft, silvery-gray metal with good thermal and electrical conductivity, enabling it to store and transmit energy. This makes the metal highly valuable for battery applications.
The largest lithium-producing country is Australia. The Greenbushes Mine (Albemarle, Tianqi Lithium) in Western Australia is the largest active mine, followed by the Salar de Atacama (SQM) in Chile.
The three largest lithium producers in 2025 are Albemarle, SQM, and Ganfeng Lithium.
The Swede Johan August Arfwedson discovered lithium in 1817 while analyzing mineral samples collected by the Brazilian José Bonefácio de Andrada e Silva from the island of Utö in Sweden. In 1818, the German chemist Christian Gottlob Gmelin discovered that lithium salts produce a red flame coloration — lithium is responsible for the red color in fireworks.
The first industrial lithium production began in 1923 by the German company Metallgesellschaft AG.
One of the earliest uses of lithium was in medicine. As a pharmaceutical agent, lithium salts are used in psychiatry to treat bipolar affective disorders, mania, depression, and cluster headaches.
Around 1940, lithium-based lubricants were developed, which continue to be widely used today.
In the 1950s, lithium was needed for the development of the hydrogen bomb. This led to large-scale lithium mining in the USA, especially at Kings Mountain, North Carolina.
Later, lithium found industrial applications as an additive in aluminum smelting as well as in glass and ceramics production.
The most significant application of lithium today is in the battery industry. It is used in lithium-ion batteries, rechargeable batteries found in electric vehicles, energy storage systems, laptops, smartphones, tablets, and other consumer electronics.
Starting in the 1970s, researchers began using lithium to develop rechargeable batteries. Building on the work of Stanley Whittingham and John Goodenough, Japanese chemical engineer Akira Yoshino achieved a breakthrough in 1983. His research ultimately led to the commercialization of the lithium-ion battery, first utilized by Sony. In 2019, Whittingham, Goodenough, and Yoshino were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their battery research.
From the 2000s onward, this new battery technology triggered a global lithium boom: between 2000 and 2020, lithium production increased sixfold.
Batteries are by far the most important application for lithium. In 2024, around 87 percent of lithium was used in the battery industry. The main drivers of demand for this lightweight metal are the automotive industry and energy storage systems. An electric vehicle battery contains on average six kilograms of lithium, used in the form of lithium carbonate or lithium hydroxide as anode material. Additionally, rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are widely used in laptops, smartphones, and a variety of other electronic devices.
Lithium is also used as a lubricant and in the glass and ceramics industry. The amounts of lithium used in pharmaceuticals are very small compared to other sectors.
Lithium is used in small quantities in nuclear energy, where it is needed for the safe operation of cooling systems in pressurized water reactors.
Lithium is widely distributed on Earth, but only in very low concentrations. The most relevant lithium-containing minerals are spodumene, petalite, and lepidolite. Other lithium-bearing minerals that are not yet commercially mined for lithium extraction include zinnwaldite and jadarite.
Significant lithium deposits are also found in salt lakes and geothermal deep waters.
The largest lithium resources are located in the salt lakes of the South American Lithium Triangle, which includes Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile. Economically relevant lithium concentrations are also present in geothermal waters, such as those in the Upper Rhine Graben.
In 2024, the global lithium production was 240,000 tons, with consumption estimated at 220,000 tons.
The most important producing countries are Australia, Chile, China, Zimbabwe, and Argentina. The globally proven and probable resources total 115 million tons, distributed as follows: Argentina and Bolivia each have 23 million tons; Chile 11 million tons; Australia 8.9 million tons; China 6.8 million tons.
In the USA, one of the largest lithium deposits in the world is located at Thacker Pass in Nevada. Lithium Americas plans to start mining there in 2027. The only active lithium mining in the USA is also in Nevada: Silver Peak, a salt lake deposit operated by Albemarle.
Lithium is not mined in Europe except in Portugal, where small quantities are extracted as a by-product for the ceramics and glass industries. However, there are larger deposits and numerous mining projects underway, including in northern Portugal itself.
In Spain, two lithium deposits in the Extremadura region have been known and developed for several years.
In Serbia’s Jadar Valley, one of Europe’s largest known lithium deposits is located, which the mining company Rio Tinto plans to develop. The mineral jadarite, discovered only in 2004, is not yet commercially mined for lithium.
At the German-Czech border, probably Europe’s largest lithium deposit is located. Mining on the Czech side is being advanced by the state energy company ČEZ together with the Australian-British firm European Metals. This project has been classified as a strategic project by the European Commission.
On the German side, the company Zinnwald Lithium is working on mining efforts. Here too, zinnwaldite is the mineral, which has not yet been commercially exploited for lithium.
In Finland, the company Keliber could begin lithium mining in western Finland as early as 2026. The project, backed by the South African company Sibanye-Stillwater, has received a €150 million loan from the European Investment Bank.
In addition to hard rock mining, there are projects in Germany and France for lithium extraction from geothermal deep water. The European Commission has granted strategic project status to initiatives by Vulcan Energy Resources in the Upper Rhine Graben and Eramet in the Alsace region.
The so-called borehole mining is still a young technology that must be adapted individually to each brine due to its different chemical composition. Once developed, however, this extraction method is considered more efficient and environmentally friendly than traditional mining. Market observer Benchmark Minerals expects the growing importance of these lithium deposits in the future.
In addition to primary mining, lithium recycling will play an increasingly important role in the future. However, current recovery rates are still low because many large lithium-ion batteries have yet to reach the end of their life cycle, and recycling costs in Western industrial countries remain high. China is by far the global leader in recycling lithium and other battery materials, followed by South Korea and Japan.
In the near future, lithium in batteries could be replaced by simple salt: The Chinese battery manufacturer CATL already launched the first sodium-ion batteries for electric vehicles in 2021. Competitors such as BYD and Huawei are also following this trend.
On Earth, sodium is the sixth most abundant element. This means significantly lower procurement costs compared to lithium, as well as better environmental compatibility in production.
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Critical and Strategic Metals
