Lithium is an alkali metal. It has the lowest density of all metals.  

• The most important use of lithium is in rechargeable batteries for mobile phones, laptops, digital cameras and electric vehicles.  
• But as well as the lithium-ion batteries for which it has grown in popularity, the highly reactive and flammable alkali mineral – sometimes referred to as “white gold” – is also used in ceramics and glass, lubricating greases, polymer production, and air treatment.  
• According to the latest figures from the US Geological Survey (USGS), global lithium production in 2018 reached around 85,000 tonnes – up from 69,000 in the previous year.  

• Continued exploration efforts have seen global lithium resource estimates reach 62 million tonnes – a significant proportion of which are located in South America’s “lithium triangle” – an area encompassing Chile, Argentina and Bolivia.  
• India currently imports all its lithium needs.  
• It imported lithium batteries worth $1.2 billion in fiscal 2019, up from $384 million in FY17.  
• Recently researchers at the Atomic Minerals Directorate, a unit of India’s Atomic Energy Commission, have estimated lithium reserves of 14,100 tonnes in a patch of land surveyed in Mandya, 100 km from Bengaluru. 

Source: The Hindu