Fusion fuels: Across the Earth
Why deuterium is everywhere and lithium is not
What this tab covers How the resource varies with latitude, climate, terrain and geology: the richest and poorest regions and the leading countries.Deuterium is spread evenly through all the world's water, so no country has an advantage. Lithium is concentrated in a few countries, and helium-3 is effectively a lunar resource.
Seawater has the same deuterium content everywhere. Lithium comes from hard-rock mines (mainly Australia) and evaporated brines in the salt flats of Chile and Argentina, with growing production in China and Africa. Helium-3 is richest in titanium-rich soils of the lunar maria, where the solar wind has implanted it.
Rich and poor regions
| Region | Resource | Level |
|---|---|---|
| World oceans (deuterium) | 33 g per m3 everywhere4 | high |
| Chile (lithium brines) | 9.2 million t reserves; 56,000 t produced in 2025 (estimate)5 | high |
| Australia (hard-rock lithium) | 92,000 t produced in 2025 (estimate), the largest producer5 | high |
| China | 4.6 million t reserves; 62,000 t produced in 2025 (estimate)5 | medium |
| Moon (helium-3) | about 25 t per km2 of high-titanium regolith to 3 m depth7 | low |
Top countries by lithium mine production (2025 estimates) 2025 5
| Country | tonnes lithium content |
|---|---|
| Australia | 92,000 |
| China | 62,000 |
| Chile | 56,000 |
| Zimbabwe | 28,000 |
| Argentina | 23,000 |
| World (excluding US) | 290,000 |
Because deuterium is everywhere, fusion would remove fuel geography from energy politics; the strategic inputs would instead be lithium (and lithium-6 enrichment), beryllium for blankets (world production about 170 t a year), and the industrial capacity to build reactors. Lithium is also in demand for batteries, so fusion would compete with that market for supply.
Sources
- Fusion fuels ITER Organization, 2024
- Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Lithium US Geological Survey, 2026
- Lunar helium-3 and fusion power (NASA Conference Publication 10018) NASA Technical Reports Server, 1988