Material Insights · Understanding the Material World

Lithium

Lithium, the lightest metal, carries the charge in rechargeable batteries, which now take 88% of global lithium use.

Battery & magnet · No. 27

  • EU strategic
  • EU critical 2023
  • US critical 2025
  • India critical 2023
  • HHI 2,442 · moderately concentrated
Battery & magnet · Foundation · Matter

Battery-grade lithium soared to $63,700 a ton in 2022, then crashed to $9,000 by 2025.

Chart: Illustration: Lithium

Where it comes from

Chart: Map of where it comes from

Lithium comes from salt-flat brines in Chile, Argentina and Bolivia, evaporated in kilometre-wide ponds, or from hard-rock spodumene mined mainly in Australia.

Three things to know
  1. Lithium is the lightest metal, so it stores more energy per kilogram than any other battery metal.
  2. Chile shipped 75.3% of world lithium carbonate exports in 2024, while China shipped 80.1% of hydroxide.
  3. SQM first pumped Atacama brine for potash; lithium began as a by-product.
The journey
  1. 1 Brine or rockSalt-flat brine or spodumene pegmatite
  2. 2 ConcentrationEvaporation ponds, or mined spodumene concentrate
  3. 3 ConversionCarbonate or hydroxide, mostly in China
  4. 4 Cathode materialMixed into battery active material
  5. 5 Battery cellsFor electric cars and grid storage
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