Iran’s lithium deposits are estimated at 8.5 million tons, which would make it the world’s second largest lithium reserve after Chile.
The Islamic Republic of Iran has discovered one of the largest lithium reserves in the world.
According to the Iranian Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade (MIMT), lithium deposits could hold about 8.5 million tons (MT) ready for mining, which would make it one of the most great global discoveries.
Currently, Chile is the second largest producer of lithium in 2022, with approximately 39,000 MT. The country’s reserves are the largest in the world, at 9.3 million MT. Until now, the second largest reserves were said to be in Australia, with 3.8 MT.
Ebrahim Ali Molabeigi, the head of MIMT’s exploration department, said more lithium ore reserves could be discovered in Hamedan, a region with large deposits of clay.
Furthermore, Molabeigi hopes Iran will find a cheap way to extract the material due to its growing demand in global markets.
The lithium price index increased 182.6% year over year in mid-December 2022, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.
Meanwhile, S&P Global has warned of a global lithium shortage as early as 2024 due to surging demand. The company says current 53 lithium mining projects, which cost about $37.8 billion annually year, they would still not be able to meet global demand even if developed aggressively from a shortfall of 605,000 tonnes by 2030.
Following the US-led economic embargo to cripple the Iranian economy, the government introduced measures to diversify its economy away from oil.
Iran’s mining industry has seen a surge in activity, generating billions of dollars and creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs for the Iranian people.
The importance of lithium for Europe
Lithium is found in all kinds of electronic devices, from cell phones to electric vehicles — basically, anything that requires a rechargeable battery.
Li-ion batteries use aqueous electrolyte solutions, in which ions transfer back and forth between the anode (negative electrode usually made of graphite) and cathode (positive electrode made of lithium), triggering charging and discharging of the electrons.
Lithium has become especially valuable in the context of growing climate concerns with the internal combustion engine and the rise of electric vehicles (EVs) as an alternative. Currently, all EVs use lithium in their battery packs with demand set to increase exponentially over the next few decades.
A 2020 World Bank report on Clean Energy Transition estimates that the production of minerals, such as graphite, lithium and cobalt, could increase by almost 500 percent by 2050, to meet growing demand for clean energy technologies.
The risk of adopting ambitious climate targets without having first protected the supply chain upstream, in addition to the damage of an economic nature, represents a problem of a strategic nature: Europe could fall into a more dangerous dependence on Russia than energy dependence.
Original article published on Money.it Italy 2023-03-05 15:38:44. Original title: Iran, scoperto uno dei più grandi giacimenti di litio nel mondo
