Iran has discovered its first lithium reserve in Hamedan Province, according to Ebrahim Ali Molla-Beigi, director general of the Exploration Affairs Office of the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade.
The discovery of this reserve is a promising sign that other similar reserves exist in this province, IRNA reported.
“Iran is one of the few countries that have substantial reserves of rare earth elements and precious metals,” he added.
The official put the newly-found lithium reserve at 8.5 million tons.
“Unlike many other minerals, lithium is bought and sold in small quantities, which is due to its high price and difficulty of extraction,” he added.
Lithium is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the least dense solid element. Like all alkali metals, lithium is highly reactive and flammable, and must be stored in a vacuum, inert atmosphere, or inert liquid such as purified kerosene or mineral oil.
Due to its solubility as an ion, it is present in ocean water and commonly obtained from brines. Lithium metal is isolated electrolytically from a mixture of lithium chloride and potassium chloride.
The US Geological Survey estimated worldwide identified lithium reserves in 2020 and 2021 to be 17 million and 21 million tons, respectively. An accurate estimate of world lithium reserves is difficult.
One reason for this is that most lithium classification schemes are developed for solid ore deposits, whereas brine is a fluid that is problematic to treat with the same classification scheme due to varying concentrations and pumping effects.
Following a hike in lithium price in 2015 and concern for insufficiency of lithium resource for the growing lithium-ion battery industry, a peer-reviewed analysis of USGS data in 2017 predicted that there will be no shortage of lithium and current estimates of reserves will increase along with the demand.
Worldwide lithium resources identified by USGS started to increase in 2017 owing to continuing exploration. Identified resources in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 were 41, 47, 54, 62 and 80 million tons, respectively.
In 2021, most lithium is used to make lithium-ion batteries for electric cars and mobile devices.
