According to a report by the Mint, various African countries are willing to offer their vast Lithium reserves to India. It is an open offer for India's EV sector to mine and mould their EV reserves for India's requirements. The proposal did not come out of thin air.
NEW DELHI : In a massive boost to its efforts to secure critical mineral supplies, India has been approached by several African countries with offers to service part of their development loans by giving access to Indian companies in their mining operations and allowing exports of highly prized lithium and cobalt.
India currently has to depend heavily on imports of lithium as major reserves of this critical non-ferrous metal are located in the US, Australia, Chile, China, Argentina and Bolivia.
Zimbabwe is currently the sixth biggest producer of lithium worldwide and the largest in Africa, with production measuring 1,200 tons per year in 2021. The majority of production comes from the country's biggest mine, the Bikita Mine, which is estimated to hold up to 11 million tons of lithium reserves.
Zimbabwe is the only African country that is a top 10 producer of lithium, and it accounted for about 800 metric tons (MT) of lithium supply in 2022. Total reserves in Zimbabwe stand at 220,000 MT, as per the US Geological Survey.
Chile holds the world's largest lithium reserves and is the world's second-largest producer. Lithium is currently produced from hard rock or brine mines.
Tesla officially broke ground Monday on a Texas lithium refinery, making it the only U.S. automaker to refine its own lithium. CEO Elon Musk said the refinery will produce enough battery-grade lithium for 1 million electric vehicles by 2025, which would make Tesla the largest processor of lithium in North America.
China is set to dominate lithium production in Africa this decade, with over 90% of supply set to come from mining companies partly or fully owned by Chinese companies, according to Benchmark.
Bolivia. Bolivia has the highest identified lithium resources in the world with 20 million tonnes, as per the US Geological Survey data.
The report confirms Australia's status as the world leader in the production of five important commodities - bauxite, iron ore, lithium, rutile and zircon. In fact, we produced more than half of the world's lithium with record production in 2021, producing 55 kilotonnes compared to 40 kilotonnes the previous year.
India imports most of its Lithium from China, Japan and United States and is the largest importer of Lithium in the World.
The Geological Survey of India has estimated the area holds 5.9 million metric tons of lithium valued at around $410 billion, although further studies will be needed to determine the quality of the lithium and confirm it can be recovered.
CATL, or Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd., is a Chinese battery manufacturer known as “the world's largest manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries.” The company has a global presence with manufacturing facilities in China, Europe, and the United States.
Jindal Africa is a part of Indian multinational conglomerate Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL), which in turn is part of the US$18 billion, diversified O.P. Jindal Group.
Efforts to increase lithium production have now placed a new focus on Zimbabwe, which has the largest lithium reserve in Africa and the sixth largest lithium reserve in the world. Zimbabwe is also estimated to have the highest number of lithium projects under exploration on the African continent.
Where is lithium available from? With 8 million tons, Chile has the world's largest known lithium reserves. This puts the South American country ahead of Australia (2.7 million tons), Argentina (2 million tons) and China (1 million tons). Within Europe, Portugal has smaller quantities of the valuable raw material.
In first place is Albemarle's Greenbushes lithium mine in Australia, which produced 37.5 kilotonnes of lithium in 2022.
Tesla has previously inked deals with Australia's own BHP, Syrah Resources, Liontown Resources and Piedmont Lithium to supply critical battery resources.
For three years from 2025, Magnis Energy Technologies plans to supply Tesla with 17,500 tonnes of battery materials each year, with the US electric car-maker given an option to purchase up to 35,000 tonnes per annum if car production ramps up.
Researchers at Vienna University of Technology have developed an oxygen-ion battery based on ceramic materials that has a longer lifespan than lithium-ion batteries. The new battery can be regenerated and does not require rare elements, making it an ideal solution for large energy storage systems.
Who is the biggest lithium producer in Australia. Pilbara Minerals (PLS) is by far the biggest lithium mining company in Australia. Owning the world's largest hard-rock lithium operations, Pilbara produces over 377,000 metric tons of lithium every year.
Lithium is not mined in Russia, so self-sufficiency in this metal is a problem, dealing with which is high on the agenda. High demand for lithium is a global trend driven by the rapid development of electric vehicles, primarily in China.
Before Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Ukraine, home to approximately 500,000 tons of high-quality lithium and vast quantities of rare earth elements, was poised to be a key player in the global transition to green technology.