FYI.Lithium
307/2000
Lithium takes charge: supply and demand reviewed
M Saller and M O'Driscoll
Industrial Minerals, Mar 2000, p 37-38, 41, 43, 45, 47
While the traditional markets for lithium minerals and chemicals continue to be ceramics, glass and metallurgy, it is
the battery
sector, already the fifth-largest source of lithium demand, that promises the greatest market expansion for lithium
products in the
future. Demand in this sector is forecast to rise from several million units in 1999 to around 500 million in 2007,
generating
material sales of $2000 million for all-lithium batteries. High-purity lithium carbonate (Li2CO3) is a key material in
the
production of lithium-ion batteries. Today, most Li2CO3 is produced from brines, because production costs are
lower. SQM
of Chile , which started production in 1997, is the world's lowest-cost lithium carbonate producer. The article
discusses other
suppliers and reviews a possible new project at the Zabuye Salt Lake in Tibet. |
