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Source: The post is based on the article “Geological Survey of India Finds Lithium and Gold Deposits” published in PIB on 9th February 2023.
What is the News?
The Geological Survey of India has for the first time discovered Lithium reserves in Salal-Haimana area of Reasi District of Jammu & Kashmir(UT).
What is Lithium?
What are the uses of Lithium?
What is the importance of Lithium discovery?
Lithium is one of the key components in electric vehicle (EV) batteries. As the world transitions from gasoline and diesel to electric vehicles, the demand for lithium is going up rapidly too.
Lithium is used not only in EVs but also in batteries for gadgets like laptops and mobile phones. It has also found application in the glass and ceramics industries.
In fact, lithium has been dubbed “white gold” for its widespread usage in items indispensable to modern-day living
Already, the world’s lithium supply can barely keep up with its demand. A report from the International Energy Agency says that the world could face lithium shortages by 2025.
Surging demand is not the only problem with lithium supply – another factor to consider is the fact that lithium resources are concentrated in a few places. Around 50% of the world’s lithium deposits are found in Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile. Australia also has around 2.7 million tonnes of lithium resources.
China meanwhile controls 60% of the world’s capacity for processing raw lithium products into batteries.
Why is this Lithium discovery a big deal for India?
India currently relies on imports to meet its mineral demand, including lithium, nickel, and cobalt.
As the world tries to wean itself off dependence on China for crucial battery materials, India is taking bold steps to position itself as an alternative in the electric vehicle supply chain.
Hence, the discovery of Lithium inferred resources (G3) of 5.9 million tonnes in Jammu and Kashmir is expected to give a big push to the government’s plans of expanding into the Electric Vehicles(EV) market.
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