Volatile lithium prices and resource shortages are raising concerns about the long-term sustainability of this critical material, which is increasingly used for electric vehicles and energy storage systems.
However, Dr. Euan McTurk, a battery electrochemist at UK-based Plug Life Consulting, told Anadolu that unconventional lithium sources have become more prominent in recent years, potentially helping to meet future demand.
‘Unconventional sources such as clay will become more conventional when the wholesale price of lithium reaches a level that makes them profitable,’ McTurk said.
He emphasized that alternatives such as clay deposits and geothermal brines could support future production, but lithium prices would need to reach a certain threshold for widespread commercial viability.
McTurk said that new direct lithium extraction technologies, applied in South American brine resources, could significantly accelerate this process, as certain methods are not only resource-efficient but also self-sufficient by running entirely on geothermal brines.
– ‘Earth isn’t going to run out of lithium’
There are currently about 136 million tons of lithium reserves in the world and ‘This is enough to produce the batteries for over 5.6 billion Long Range Tesla Model 3s,’ McTurk noted.
‘If that’s not enough, there’s 230 billion tonnes of lithium in the ocean, which is enough to produce 9.6 trillion Model 3 batteries, so the earth isn’t going to run out of lithium,’ he explained.
A report titled Lithium by Commodity Insights Digest analyzed the lithium market and highlighted advancing mining, processing, and sustainable methods to utilize unconventional resources like lithium-rich clays, geothermal brines, and oil field brines.
While several projects are being launched around the world to meet the growing demand for lithium, major companies and nations are accelerating their investments to boost local production.
In the US, companies such as ExxonMobil, Chevron, and Occidental aim to increase domestic output.
Australia and Canada are exploring hard rock lithium deposits, while Germany and Serbia are researching geothermal brine and clay. China is also investing heavily in new lithium extraction techniques and battery recycling, while South America is developing projects to improve production efficiency.
-Projects on lithium mining and recycling
Noting that various projects are being carried out worldwide on lithium mining and recycling, McTurk gave an example of Watercycle Technologies which has developed an innovative technology that combines lithium extraction from salt water, battery recycling, wastewater, and seawater treatment processes and enables the extraction of minerals such as lithium without changing the salinity of seawater.
He emphasized that countries with coastlines and limited freshwater reserves use large-scale energy to desalinate seawater.
Watercycle Technologies’ process removes and recovers the various minerals that are found in seawater – including lithium – so that these may be sold and used elsewhere.
‘This simultaneously prevents the salinity the Gulf from being altered, while also providing a new source of critical minerals and a revenue stream from the desalination process,’ he added.
Looking ahead, McTurk warned that ‘the biggest risk with regards to lithium reserves – and lithium supply – is a lack of investment in the new extraction facilities that are predicted to be required to meet demand by 2030.’
To address this, he suggested that governments and industry collaborate to provide incentives such as temporary tax breaks for new lithium extraction projects or repayable subsidies that guarantee an economically feasible minimum spot price for lithium.
As lithium is critical to the clean energy transition, developing both traditional and alternative production methods through innovative technologies and sustainable mining practices is essential for meeting future global demand.
