38 www.resourceworld.com
F E B R U A R Y / M A R C H 2 0 1 7
in the works in Québec.
Besides the huge demand for recharge-
able and non-rechargeable batteries,
lithium is also used in grease, polymers,
ceramics, glass, alloys, optics, lubricants,
pharmaceuticals and other applications.
There are a number of lithium chemical
products produced, including lithium
carbonate, lithium bromide, lithium chlo
-
ride, butyl lithium and lithium hydroxide.
Lithium is sold as brines, compounds,
metal, or mineral concentrates depend-
ing on the end use. Alcoa has developed a
lithium metal alloy to make lighter aircraft.
At present, there are a number of
junior explorers targeting lithium brines
in Nevada, where Albemarle Corp.
[ALB-NYSE] is a producer. Brines are also
being explored, called salars (salt lakes) in
Argentina, including Argentina Lithium
and Energy Corp. [LIT-TSXV], Dajin
Resources Corp. [DJI-TSXV] and Lithium
X Energy Corp. [LIX-TSXV].
There are actually only a few places in
the world where lithium brines are found
in economic quantities. To form a deposit,
the lithium is concentrated in desert val
-
leys that have no water exits, allowing the
lithium levels to build up over thousands
of years.
Several developments are coming
together that point to a bright future for
the lithium industry. The demand for
electric cars has been slow to develop but
the dropping price of batteries plus the
longer driving range of newer models such
as the affordable Chevrolet Bolt and Tesla
coupled with more recharging stations
are going a long way to relieve "range
anxiety."
Consequently, we are seeing reports
such as Bloomberg estimating that by 2022
electric cars will be cost-competitive on a
lifecycle basis with gasoline cars. Indeed, a
report in The Australian forecasts a +500%
battery consumption over the next 10
years. Advantage Lithium notes that EV
(electric vehicle) production is growing
by 45% per year, energy storage demand
is doubling each year and lithium demand
is outstripping supply by 15% of total
supply.
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