# Fusion fuels: Across the Earth

Why deuterium is everywhere and lithium is not

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_fusion_fuels/geography/

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 everywhere^[4](https://www.ITER.org/sci/fusionfuels) | high |
| **Chile (lithium brines)** | 9.2 million t reserves; 56,000 t produced in 2025 (estimate)^[5](https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2026/mcs2026-lithium.pdf) | high |
| **Australia (hard-rock lithium)** | 92,000 t produced in 2025 (estimate), the largest producer^[5](https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2026/mcs2026-lithium.pdf) | high |
| **China** | 4.6 million t reserves; 62,000 t produced in 2025 (estimate)^[5](https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2026/mcs2026-lithium.pdf) | medium |
| **Moon (helium-3)** | about 25 t per km2 of high-titanium regolith to 3 m depth^[7](https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19890005478/downloads/19890005478.pdf) | low |

#### Top countries by lithium mine production (2025 estimates) 2025 ^[5](https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2026/mcs2026-lithium.pdf)

| 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

1. [Fusion fuels](https://www.ITER.org/sci/fusionfuels) ITER Organization, 2024
2. [Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Lithium](https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2026/mcs2026-lithium.pdf) US Geological Survey, 2026
3. [Lunar helium-3 and fusion power (NASA Conference Publication 10018)](https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19890005478/downloads/19890005478.pdf) NASA Technical Reports Server, 1988

## Other sections

- [Summary](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_fusion_fuels/index.md)
- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_fusion_fuels/overview/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_fusion_fuels/correlation/index.md)
- [How energy resides](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_fusion_fuels/resides/index.md)
- [Abundance](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_fusion_fuels/abundance/index.md)
- [Fluctuation in time](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_fusion_fuels/time/index.md)
- [Impact on nature](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_fusion_fuels/nature/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_fusion_fuels/links/index.md)