Lithium#Extraction

File:Limetal.JPG

The alkali metals are also called the lithium family, after its leading element. Like the other alkali metals (which are sodium (Na), potassium (K), rubidium (Rb), caesium (Cs), and francium (Fr)), lithium has a single valence electron that, in the presence of solvents, is easily released to form Li⁺. Because of this, lithium is a good conductor of heat and electricity as well as a highly reactive element, though it is the least reactive of the alkali metals. Lithium's lower reactivity is due to the proximity of its valence electron to its nucleus (the remaining two electrons are in the 1s orbital, much lower in energy, and do not participate in chemical bonds). Molten lithium is significantly more reactive than its solid form.{{Cite journal |last1=Huang |first1=Chuanfu |last2=Kresin |first2=Vitaly V. |date=June 2016 |title=Note: Contamination-free loading of lithium metal into a nozzle source |journal=Review of Scientific Instruments |language=en |volume=87 |issue=6 |page=066105 |doi=10.1063/1.4953918 |pmid=27370506 |issn=0034-6748 |bibcode=2016RScI...87f6105H}}{{Cite book |title=The chemistry of the liquid alkali metals |author=Addison, C. C. |date=1984 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-0-471-90508-0 |location=Chichester [West Sussex] |oclc=10751785}}

Lithium metal is soft enough to be cut with a knife. It is silvery-white. In air it oxidizes to lithium oxide. Its melting point of {{Cvt|180.50|C|K F|disp=|abbr=unit}}{{cite web |title=PubChem Element Summary for AtomicNumber 3, Lithium |url=https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/element/Lithium |work=National Center for Biotechnology Information |date=2021 |access-date=10 September 2021 |archive-date=10 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210910175321/https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/element/Lithium |url-status=live}} and its boiling point of {{Cvt|1342|C|K F|disp=|abbr=unit}} are each the highest of all the alkali metals while its density of 0.534 g/cm³ is the lowest.

Lithium has a very low density (0.534 g/cm³), comparable with pine wood.{{Cite web |url=https://education.jlab.org/itselemental/ele003.html |title=It's Elemental – The Element Lithium |website=education.jlab.org |access-date=9 October 2019 |archive-date=5 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191005165125/https://education.jlab.org/itselemental/ele003.html |url-status=live}} It is the least dense of all elements that are solids at room temperature; the next lightest solid element (potassium, at 0.862 g/cm³) is more than 60% denser. Apart from helium and hydrogen, as a solid it is less dense than any other element as a liquid, being only two-thirds as dense as liquid nitrogen (0.808 g/cm³).{{cite web |url=http://encyclopedia.airliquide.com/Encyclopedia.asp?LanguageID=11&CountryID=19&Formula=&GasID=5&UNNumber=&EquivGasID=32&VolLiquideBox=&MasseLiquideBox=&VolGasBox=&MasseGasBox=&RD20=29&RD9=8&RD6=64&RD4=2&RD3=22&RD8=27&RD2=20&RD18=41&RD7=18&RD13=71&RD16=35&RD12=31&RD19=34&RD24=62&RD25=77&RD26=78&RD28=81&RD29=82 |title=Nitrogen, N2, Physical properties, safety, MSDS, enthalpy, material compatibility, gas liquid equilibrium, density, viscosity, inflammability, transport properties |publisher=Encyclopedia.airliquide.com |access-date=29 September 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721162642/http://encyclopedia.airliquide.com/Encyclopedia.asp?LanguageID=11&CountryID=19&Formula=&GasID=5&UNNumber=&EquivGasID=32&VolLiquideBox=&MasseLiquideBox=&VolGasBox=&MasseGasBox=&RD20=29&RD9=8&RD6=64&RD4=2&RD3=22&RD8=27&RD2=20&RD18=41&RD7=18&RD13=71&RD16=35&RD12=31&RD19=34&RD24=62&RD25=77&RD26=78&RD28=81&RD29=82 |archive-date=21 July 2011}} Lithium can float on the lightest hydrocarbon oils and is one of only three metals that can float on water, the other two being sodium and potassium.

File:Lithium element.jpg

Lithium's coefficient of thermal expansion is twice that of aluminium and almost four times that of iron.{{cite web |url=http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/linear-expansion-coefficients-d_95.html |title=Coefficients of Linear Expansion |publisher=Engineering Toolbox |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121130215248/http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/linear-expansion-coefficients-d_95.html |archive-date=30 November 2012 |access-date=9 January 2011}} Lithium is superconductive below 400 μK at standard pressure{{cite journal |last1=Tuoriniemi |first1=Juha |last2=Juntunen-Nurmilaukas |first2=Kirsi |last3=Uusvuori |first3=Johanna |last4=Pentti |first4=Elias |last5=Salmela |first5=Anssi |last6=Sebedash |first6=Alexander |title=Superconductivity in lithium below 0.4 millikelvin at ambient pressure |journal=Nature |volume=447 |issue=7141 |pages=187–9 |year=2007 |pmid=17495921 |doi=10.1038/nature05820 |bibcode=2007Natur.447..187T |s2cid=4430500 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/996565 |access-date=20 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190625233052/https://zenodo.org/record/996565 |archive-date=25 June 2019 |url-status=live}} and at higher temperatures (more than 9 K) at very high pressures (>20 GPa).{{Cite journal |doi=10.1126/science.1078535 |date=2002 |author=Struzhkin, V. V. |author2=Eremets, M. I. |author3=Gan, W |author4=Mao, H. K. |author5=Hemley, R. J. |title=Superconductivity in dense lithium |volume=298 |issue=5596 |pages=1213–5 |pmid=12386338 |journal=Science |bibcode=2002Sci...298.1213S |s2cid=21030510}} At temperatures below 70 K, lithium, like sodium, undergoes diffusionless phase change transformations. At 4.2 K it has a rhombohedral crystal system (with a nine-layer repeat spacing); at higher temperatures it transforms to face-centered cubic and then body-centered cubic. At liquid-helium temperatures (4 K) the rhombohedral structure is prevalent.{{Cite journal |first=A. W. |last=Overhauser |title=Crystal Structure of Lithium at 4.2 K |doi=10.1103/PhysRevLett.53.64 |volume=53 |issue=1 |pages=64–65 |date=1984 |journal=Physical Review Letters |bibcode=1984PhRvL..53...64O}} Multiple allotropic forms have been identified for lithium at high pressures.{{cite journal |last1=Schwarz |first1=Ulrich |title=Metallic high-pressure modifications of main group elements |journal=Zeitschrift für Kristallographie |volume=219 |pages=376–390 |date=2004 |doi=10.1524/zkri.219.6.376.34637 |issue=6–2004 |bibcode=2004ZK....219..376S |s2cid=56006683}}

Lithium has a mass specific heat capacity of 3.58 kilojoules per kilogram-kelvin, the highest of all solids.{{Cite book |author=Hammond, C. R. |title=The Elements, in Handbook of Chemistry and Physics |date=2000 |publisher=CRC press |isbn=978-0-8493-0481-1 |edition=81st}}{{page needed|date=December 2016}}[https://web.archive.org/web/20140823211840/http://hilltop.bradley.edu/~spost/THERMO/solidcp.pdf SPECIFIC HEAT OF SOLIDS]. bradley.edu Because of this, lithium metal is often used in coolants for heat transfer applications.

{{Main|Isotopes of lithium}}

Naturally occurring lithium is composed of two stable isotopes, ⁶Li and ⁷Li, the latter being the more abundant (95.15% natural abundance).{{CIAAW2013}}{{NUBASE2020}} Both natural isotopes have anomalously low nuclear binding energy per nucleon (compared to the neighboring elements on the periodic table, helium and beryllium); lithium is the only low numbered element that can produce net energy through nuclear fission. The two lithium nuclei have lower binding energies per nucleon than any other stable nuclides other than hydrogen-1, deuterium and helium-3.:File:Binding energy curve - common isotopes.svg shows binding energies of stable nuclides graphically; the source of the data-set is given in the figure background. As a result of this, though very light in atomic weight, lithium is less common in the Solar System than 25 of the first 32 chemical elements. Seven radioisotopes have been characterized, the most stable being ⁸Li with a half-life of 838 ms and ⁹Li with a half-life of 178 ms. All of the remaining radioactive isotopes have half-lives that are shorter than 8.6 ms. The shortest-lived isotope of lithium is ⁴Li, which decays through proton emission and has a half-life of 7.6 × 10⁻²³ s.{{cite web |url=http://www.nndc.bnl.gov/chart/reCenter.jsp?z=104&n=158 |title=Interactive Chart of Nuclides |publisher=Brookhaven National Laboratory |author=Sonzogni, Alejandro |location=National Nuclear Data Center |access-date=6 June 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070723192118/http://www.nndc.bnl.gov/chart/reCenter.jsp?z=104&n=158 |archive-date=23 July 2007}} The ⁶Li isotope is one of only five stable nuclides to have both an odd number of protons and an odd number of neutrons, the other four stable odd-odd nuclides being hydrogen-2, boron-10, nitrogen-14, and tantalum-180m.{{cite book |last=Various |editor=Lide, David R. |year=2002 |title=Handbook of Chemistry & Physics |edition=88th |publisher=CRC |url=http://www.hbcpnetbase.com/ |access-date=2008-05-23 |isbn=978-0-8493-0486-6 |oclc=179976746 |archive-date=24 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170724011402/http://www.hbcpnetbase.com/}}

⁷Li is one of the primordial elements (or, more properly, primordial nuclides) produced in Big Bang nucleosynthesis. A small amount of both ⁶Li and ⁷Li are produced in stars during stellar nucleosynthesis, but it is further "burned" as fast as produced.{{Cite journal |title=Lithium Isotopic Abundances in Metal-poor Halo Stars |date=2006 |journal=The Astrophysical Journal |doi=10.1086/503538 |volume=644 |issue=1 |pages=229–259 |author=Asplund, M. |bibcode=2006ApJ...644..229A |arxiv=astro-ph/0510636 |display-authors=1 |last2=Lambert |first2=David L. |last3=Nissen |first3=Poul Erik |last4=Primas |first4=Francesca |last5=Smith |first5=Verne V. |s2cid=394822}} ⁷Li can also be generated in carbon stars.{{Cite journal |title=Episodic lithium production by extra-mixing in red giants |bibcode=2000A&A...358L..49D |first1=P. A. |last1=Denissenkov |first2=A. |last2=Weiss |journal=Astronomy and Astrophysics |volume=358 |pages=L49–L52 |date=2000 |arxiv=astro-ph/0005356 }} Additional small amounts of both ⁶Li and ⁷Li may be generated from solar wind, cosmic rays hitting heavier atoms, and from early solar system ⁷Be radioactive decay.{{Cite journal |url=http://sims.ess.ucla.edu/PDF/Chaussidon_et_al_Geochim%20Cosmochim_2006a.pdf |doi=10.1016/j.gca.2005.08.016 |first1=M. |last1=Chaussidon |first2=F. |last2=Robert |first3=K. D. |last3=McKeegan |journal=Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta |volume=70 |issue=1 |date=2006 |pages=224–245 |title=Li and B isotopic variations in an Allende CAI: Evidence for the in situ decay of short-lived ¹⁰Be and for the possible presence of the short−lived nuclide ⁷Be in the early solar system |bibcode=2006GeCoA..70..224C |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100718065257/http://sims.ess.ucla.edu/PDF/Chaussidon_et_al_Geochim%20Cosmochim_2006a.pdf |archive-date=18 July 2010}}

Lithium isotopes fractionate substantially during a wide variety of natural processes,{{Cite journal |date=2004 |first1=H. M. |last1=Seitz |first2=G. P. |last2=Brey |first3=Y. |last3=Lahaye |first4=S. |last4=Durali |first5=S. |last5=Weyer |title=Lithium isotopic signatures of peridotite xenoliths and isotopic fractionation at high temperature between olivine and pyroxenes |journal=Chemical Geology |volume=212 |issue=1–2 |doi=10.1016/j.chemgeo.2004.08.009 |pages=163–177 |bibcode=2004ChGeo.212..163S}} including mineral formation (chemical precipitation), metabolism, and ion exchange. Lithium ions substitute for magnesium and iron in octahedral sites in clay minerals, where ⁶Li is preferred to ⁷Li, resulting in enrichment of the light isotope in processes of hyperfiltration and rock alteration. The exotic ¹¹Li is known to exhibit a neutron halo, with 2 neutrons orbiting around its nucleus of 3 protons and 6 neutrons. The process known as laser isotope separation can be used to separate lithium isotopes, in particular ⁷Li from ⁶Li.{{Cite book |page=330 |title=Tunable Laser Applications |author=Duarte, F. J |author-link=F. J. Duarte |publisher=CRC Press |date=2009 |isbn=978-1-4200-6009-6}}

Nuclear weapons manufacture and other nuclear physics applications are a major source of artificial lithium fractionation, with the light isotope ⁶Li being retained by industry and military stockpiles to such an extent that it has caused slight but measurable change in the ⁶Li to ⁷Li ratios in natural sources, such as rivers. This has led to unusual uncertainty in the standardized atomic weight of lithium, since this quantity depends on the natural abundance ratios of these naturally-occurring stable lithium isotopes, as they are available in commercial lithium mineral sources.{{cite journal |doi=10.1351/pac200274101987 |title=Isotope-abundance variations of selected elements (IUPAC Technical Report) |date=2002 |last1=Coplen |first1=T. B. |last2=Bohlke |first2=J. K. |last3=De Bievre |first3=P. |last4=Ding |first4=T. |last5=Holden |first5=N. E. |last6=Hopple |first6=J. A. |last7=Krouse |first7=H. R. |last8=Lamberty |first8=A. |last9=Peiser |first9=H. S.|last10=N.N. |journal=Pure and Applied Chemistry |volume=74 |issue=10 |page=1987 |display-authors=9 |doi-access=free}}

Both stable isotopes of lithium can be laser cooled and were used to produce the first quantum degenerate Bose–Fermi mixture.{{Cite journal |last1=Truscott |first1=Andrew G. |last2=Strecker |first2=Kevin E. |last3=McAlexander |first3=William I. |last4=Partridge |first4=Guthrie B. |last5=Hulet |first5=Randall G. |date=2001-03-30 |title=Observation of Fermi Pressure in a Gas of Trapped Atoms |journal=Science |language=en |volume=291 |issue=5513 |pages=2570–2572 |doi=10.1126/science.1059318 |issn=0036-8075 |pmid=11283362 |bibcode=2001Sci...291.2570T |s2cid=31126288}}

File:Elemental abundances.svg in the Earth's upper continental crust, on a per-atom basis.]]

{{Main|Nucleosynthesis|Stellar nucleosynthesis|Lithium burning}}

Although it was synthesized in the Big Bang, lithium (together with beryllium and boron) is markedly less abundant in the universe than other elements. This is a result of the comparatively low stellar temperatures necessary to destroy lithium, along with a lack of common processes to produce it.{{cite web |url=http://www.astro.wesleyan.edu/~bill/courses/astr231/wes_only/element_abundances.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060901133923/http://www.astro.wesleyan.edu/~bill/courses/astr231/wes_only/element_abundances.pdf |archive-date=1 September 2006 |title=Element Abundances |access-date=17 November 2009}}

According to modern cosmological theory, lithium—in both stable isotopes (lithium-6 and lithium-7)—was one of the three elements synthesized in the Big Bang.{{cite journal |bibcode=1985ARA&A..23..319B |title=Big bang nucleosynthesis – Theories and observations |last1=Boesgaard |first1=A. M. |last2=Steigman |first2=G. |volume=23 |date=1985 |pages=319–378 |journal=Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics |id=A86-14507 04–90 |location=Palo Alto, CA |doi=10.1146/annurev.aa.23.090185.001535}} Though the amount of lithium generated in Big Bang nucleosynthesis is dependent upon the number of photons per baryon, for accepted values the lithium abundance can be calculated, and there is a "cosmological lithium discrepancy" in the universe: older stars seem to have less lithium than they should, and some younger stars have much more.{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20170220-the-cosmic-explosions-that-made-the-universe |title=The Cosmic Explosions That Made the Universe |last=Woo |first=Marcus |date=21 February 2017 |website=earth |publisher=BBC |access-date=21 February 2017 |quote=A mysterious cosmic factory is producing lithium. Scientists are now getting closer at finding out where it comes from |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170221214442/http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20170220-the-cosmic-explosions-that-made-the-universe |archive-date=21 February 2017}} The lack of lithium in older stars is apparently caused by the "mixing" of lithium into the interior of stars, where it is destroyed,{{Cite news |url=http://www.universetoday.com/476/why-old-stars-seem-to-lack-lithium/ |title=Why Old Stars Seem to Lack Lithium |date=16 August 2006 |author=Cain, Fraser |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160604044857/http://www.universetoday.com/476/why-old-stars-seem-to-lack-lithium/ |archive-date=4 June 2016}} while lithium is produced in younger stars. Although it transmutes into two atoms of helium due to collision with a proton at temperatures above 2.4 million degrees Celsius (most stars easily attain this temperature in their interiors), lithium is more abundant than computations would predict in later-generation stars.

File:Nova Centauri 2013 ESO.jpg is the first in which evidence of lithium has been found.{{cite web |title=First Detection of Lithium from an Exploding Star |url=http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1531/ |access-date=29 July 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150801001700/http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1531/ |archive-date=1 August 2015}}]]

Lithium is also found in brown dwarf substellar objects and certain anomalous orange stars. Because lithium is present in cooler, less-massive brown dwarfs, but is destroyed in hotter red dwarf stars, its presence in the stars' spectra can be used in the "lithium test" to differentiate the two, as both are smaller than the Sun.{{cite news |url=http://www.universetoday.com/24593/brown-dwarf/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110225032434/http://www.universetoday.com/24593/brown-dwarf/ |archive-date=25 February 2011 |title=Brown Dwarf |access-date=17 November 2009 |last=Cain |first=Fraser |work=Universe Today}}{{cite web |url=http://www-int.stsci.edu/~inr/ldwarf3.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130521055905/http://www-int.stsci.edu/~inr/ldwarf3.html |archive-date=21 May 2013 |title=L Dwarf Classification |access-date=6 March 2013 |first=Neill |last=Reid |date=10 March 2002}} Certain orange stars can also contain a high concentration of lithium. Those orange stars found to have a higher than usual concentration of lithium (such as Centaurus X-4) orbit massive objects—neutron stars or black holes—whose gravity evidently pulls heavier lithium to the surface of a hydrogen-helium star, causing more lithium to be observed.

On 27 May 2020, astronomers reported that classical nova explosions are galactic producers of lithium-7.{{cite news |author=Arizona State University |title=Class of stellar explosions found to be galactic producers of lithium |url=https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-06/asu-cos060120.php |date=1 June 2020 |work=EurekAlert! |access-date=2 June 2020 |archive-date=3 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200603070318/https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-06/asu-cos060120.php |url-status=live}}{{cite journal |author1-link=Sumner Starrfield |author=Starrfield, Sumner |display-authors=et al. |title=Carbon–Oxygen Classical Novae Are Galactic 7Li Producers as well as Potential Supernova Ia Progenitors |date=27 May 2020 |journal=The Astrophysical Journal |volume=895 |number=1 |page=70 |doi=10.3847/1538-4357/ab8d23 |arxiv=1910.00575 |bibcode=2020ApJ...895...70S |s2cid=203610207 |doi-access=free}}

{{See also|:Category:Lithium compounds|l1=Lithium compounds|:Category:Lithium minerals|l2=Lithium minerals}}

Although lithium is widely distributed on Earth, it does not naturally occur in elemental form due to its high reactivity.{{Cite book |last=Krebs |first=Robert E. |date=2006 |title=The History and Use of Our Earth's Chemical Elements: A Reference Guide |publisher=Greenwood Press |location=Westport, Conn. |isbn=978-0-313-33438-2}} The total lithium content of seawater is very large and is estimated as 230 billion tonnes, where the element exists at a relatively constant concentration of 0.14 to 0.25 parts per million (ppm),{{cite web |url=http://www.ioes.saga-u.ac.jp/ioes-study/li/lithium/occurence.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090502142924/http://www.ioes.saga-u.ac.jp/ioes-study/li/lithium/occurence.html |archive-date=2 May 2009 |title=Lithium Occurrence |access-date=13 March 2009 |publisher=Institute of Ocean Energy, Saga University, Japan}} or 25 micromolar;{{cite book |chapter=Extraction of metals from sea water |date=1984 |publisher=Springer Berlin Heidelberg |doi=10.1007/3-540-13534-0_3 |volume=124 |pages=91–133 |series=Topics in Current Chemistry |last1=Schwochau |first1=Klaus |title=Inorganic Chemistry |isbn=978-3-540-13534-0 |s2cid=93866412}} higher concentrations approaching 7 ppm are found near hydrothermal vents.

Estimates for the Earth's crustal content range from 20 to 70 ppm by weight.{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/science/lithium-chemical-element |title=lithium |website=Britannica encyclopedia |access-date=4 August 2020 |archive-date=5 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805231540/https://www.britannica.com/science/lithium-chemical-element |url-status=live}} In keeping with its name, lithium forms a minor part of igneous rocks, with the largest concentrations in granites. Granitic pegmatites also provide the greatest abundance of lithium-containing minerals, with spodumene and petalite being the most commercially viable sources. Another significant mineral of lithium is lepidolite which is now an obsolete name for a series formed by polylithionite and trilithionite.{{cite book |title=Shriver & Atkins' Inorganic Chemistry |edition=5th |publisher=W. H. Freeman and Company |place=New York |date=2010 |page=296 |isbn=978-0-19-923617-6 |author=Atkins, Peter}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.mindat.org/ |title=Mindat.org – Mines, Minerals and More |website=www.mindat.org |access-date=4 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110422205859/http://www.mindat.org/ |archive-date=22 April 2011 |url-status=live}} Another source for lithium is hectorite clay, the only active development of which is through the Western Lithium Corporation in the United States.{{Cite journal |author=Moores, S. |title=Between a rock and a salt lake |journal=Industrial Minerals |date=June 2007 |page=58 |volume=477}} At 20 mg lithium per kg of Earth's crust,Taylor, S. R.; McLennan, S. M.; The continental crust: Its composition and evolution, Blackwell Sci. Publ., Oxford, 330 pp. (1985). Cited in Abundances of the elements (data page) lithium is the 31st most abundant element.{{Cite book |last=Emsley |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j-Xu07p3cKwC&dq=%2231st+most+abundant+element%22&pg=PA238 |title=Nature's Building Blocks: An A-Z Guide to the Elements |date=2003 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-850340-8 |language=en}}

According to the Handbook of Lithium and Natural Calcium, "Lithium is a comparatively rare element, although it is found in many rocks and some brines, but always in very low concentrations. There are a fairly large number of both lithium mineral and brine deposits but only comparatively few of them are of actual or potential commercial value. Many are very small, others are too low in grade."Garrett, Donald (2004) Handbook of Lithium and Natural Calcium, Academic Press, cited in [http://www.meridian-int-res.com/Projects/Lithium_Microscope.pdf The Trouble with Lithium 2] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714074508/http://www.meridian-int-res.com/Projects/Lithium_Microscope.pdf |date=14 July 2011 }}, Meridian International Research (2008)

Chile is estimated (2020) to have the largest reserves by far (9.2 million tonnes), and Australia the highest annual production (40,000 tonnes). One of the largest reserve bases[http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/mcs/2011/mcsapp2011.pdf Appendixes] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111106013449/http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/mcs/2011/mcsapp2011.pdf |date=6 November 2011 }}. By USGS definitions, the reserve base "may encompass those parts of the resources that have a reasonable potential for becoming economically available within planning horizons beyond those that assume proven technology and current economics. The reserve base includes those resources that are currently economic (reserves), marginally economic (marginal reserves), and some of those that are currently subeconomic (subeconomic resources)." of lithium is in the Salar de Uyuni area of Bolivia, which has 5.4 million tonnes. Other major suppliers include Australia, Argentina and China.{{citation |title=Lithium Statistics and Information |date=2018 |url=http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/lithium/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303175050/http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/lithium/ |publisher=U.S. Geological Survey |access-date=25 July 2002 |archive-date=3 March 2016 |url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=http://www.meridian-int-res.com/Projects/Lithium_Microscope.pdf |title=The Trouble with Lithium 2 |work=Meridian International Research |date=2008 |access-date=29 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714074508/http://www.meridian-int-res.com/Projects/Lithium_Microscope.pdf |archive-date=14 July 2011}} As of 2015, the Czech Geological Survey considered the entire Ore Mountains in the Czech Republic as lithium province. Five deposits are registered, one near {{ill|Cínovec|cs|Cínovec (Dubí)}} is considered as a potentially economical deposit, with 160 000 tonnes of lithium.{{cite book |author=Czech Geological Survey |title=Mineral Commodity Summaries of the Czech Republic 2015 |url=http://www.geology.cz/extranet-eng/publications/online/mineral-commodity-summaries/mineral_comodity_summaries_2015.pdf |location=Prague |publisher=Czech Geological Survey |page=373 |date=October 2015 |isbn=978-80-7075-904-2 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170106015520/http://www.geology.cz/extranet-eng/publications/online/mineral-commodity-summaries/mineral_comodity_summaries_2015.pdf |archive-date=6 January 2017 |author-link=Czech Geological Survey}} In December 2019, Finnish mining company Keliber Oy reported its Rapasaari lithium deposit has estimated proven and probable ore reserves of 5.280 million tonnes.{{cite web |url=https://www.kitco.com/news/2019-12-06/Ore-Reserve-grows-its-Finland-lithium-deposit-by-50.html |title=Ore Reserve grows its Finland lithium deposit by 50% |date=2019 |access-date=10 December 2019 |archive-date=10 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210073525/https://www.kitco.com/news/2019-12-06/Ore-Reserve-grows-its-Finland-lithium-deposit-by-50.html |url-status=live}}

In June 2010, The New York Times reported that American geologists were conducting ground surveys on dry salt lakes in western Afghanistan believing that large deposits of lithium are located there.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/14/world/asia/14minerals.html?pagewanted=1&hp |title=U.S. Identifies Vast Riches of Minerals in Afghanistan |access-date=13 June 2010 |work=The New York Times |first=James |last=Risen |date=13 June 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100617204210/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/14/world/asia/14minerals.html?pagewanted=1&hp |archive-date=17 June 2010}} These estimates are "based principally on old data, which was gathered mainly by the Soviets during their occupation of Afghanistan from 1979–1989".{{cite news |url=http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/natural_resources/article7149696.ece |location=London |work=The Times |title=Taleban zones mineral riches may rival Saudi Arabia says Pentagon |first1=Jeremy |last1=Page |first2=Michael |last2=Evans |date=15 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514140029/http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/natural_resources/article7149696.ece |archive-date=14 May 2011}} The Department of Defense estimated the lithium reserves in Afghanistan to amount to the ones in Bolivia and dubbed it as a potential "Saudi-Arabia of lithium".{{Cite news |last=Hosp |first=Gerald |title=Afghanistan: die konfliktreichen Bodenschätze |url=https://www.nzz.ch/wirtschaft/afghanistan-die-konfliktreichen-bodenschaetze-ld.1642056 |access-date=2021-09-01 |website=Neue Zürcher Zeitung |date=30 August 2021 |language=de |archive-date=8 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210908222650/https://www.nzz.ch/wirtschaft/afghanistan-die-konfliktreichen-bodenschaetze-ld.1642056?reduced=true |url-status=live}} In Cornwall, England, the presence of brine rich in lithium was well known due to the region's historic mining industry, and private investors have conducted tests to investigate potential lithium extraction in this area.{{cite web |last1=Bliss |first1=Dominic |title=National Geographic |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/science-and-technology/2021/05/in-cornwall-ruinous-tin-mines-are-yielding-battery-grade-lithium-heres-what-that-could-mean |website=In Cornwall, ruinous tin and copper mines are yielding battery-grade lithium. Here's what that means. |access-date=June 13, 2021 |date=May 28, 2021 |archive-date=13 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613173804/https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/science-and-technology/2021/05/in-cornwall-ruinous-tin-mines-are-yielding-battery-grade-lithium-heres-what-that-could-mean}}{{cite news |title=Cornwall lithium deposits 'globally significant' |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cornwall-54188071 |access-date=June 13, 2021 |agency=BBC |date=September 17, 2020 |archive-date=13 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613173803/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cornwall-54188071 |url-status=live}}

{{See also|Potassium in biology|Sodium in biology|Soil salinity}}

Lithium is found in trace amount in numerous plants, plankton, and invertebrates, at concentrations of 69 to 5,760 parts per billion (ppb). In vertebrates the concentration is slightly lower, and nearly all vertebrate tissue and body fluids contain lithium ranging from 21 to 763 ppb. Marine organisms tend to bioaccumulate lithium more than terrestrial organisms.{{cite journal |last1=Chassard-Bouchaud |first1=C. |last2=Galle |first2=P. |last3=Escaig |first3=F. |last4=Miyawaki |first4=M. |title=Bioaccumulation of lithium by marine organisms in European, American, and Asian coastal zones: microanalytic study using secondary ion emission |journal=Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences, Série III |volume=299 |issue=18 |pages=719–24 |date=1984 |pmid=6440674}} Whether lithium has a physiological role in any of these organisms is unknown.{{cite web |url=http://www.enclabs.com/lithium.html |access-date=15 October 2010 |title=Some Facts about Lithium |publisher=ENC Labs |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110710191644/http://www.enclabs.com/lithium.html |archive-date=10 July 2011}}

Lithium concentrations in human tissue averages about 24 ppb (4 ppb in blood, and 1.3 ppm in bone).{{cite book |last=Emsley |first=John |author-link=John Emsley |title=Nature's Building Blocks: An A-Z Guide to the Elements |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2EfYXzwPo3UC&pg=PA290 |access-date=17 June 2016 |date=25 August 2011 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-960563-7 |pages=290–298 |archive-date=26 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230826192732/https://books.google.com/books?id=2EfYXzwPo3UC&pg=PA290 |url-status=live}}

Lithium is easily absorbed by plants and lithium concentration in plant tissue is typically around 1 ppm. Some plant families bioaccumulate more lithium than others. Dry weight lithium concentrations for members of the family Solanaceae (which includes potatoes and tomatoes), for instance, can be as high as 30 ppm while this can be as low as 0.05 ppb for corn grains.

Studies of lithium concentrations in mineral-rich soil give ranges between around 0.1 and 50−100 ppm, with some concentrations as high as 100−400 ppm, although it is unlikely that all of it is available for uptake by plants.{{cite book |editor-last=Bach |editor-first=Ricardo O. |editor-last2=Gallicchio |editor-first2=Vincent S. |title=Lithium and Cell Physiology |publisher=Springer New York |publication-place=New York, NY |year=1990 |isbn=978-1-4612-7967-9 |doi=10.1007/978-1-4612-3324-4 |pages=25–46 |s2cid=44374126}}

Lithium accumulation does not appear to affect the essential nutrient composition of plants. Tolerance to lithium varies by plant species and typically parallels sodium tolerance; maize and Rhodes grass, for example, are highly tolerant to lithium injury while avocado and soybean are very sensitive. Similarly, lithium at concentrations of 5 ppm reduces seed germination in some species (e.g. Asian rice and chickpea) but not in others (e.g. barley and wheat).

Many of lithium's major biological effects can be explained by its competition with other ions.{{cite journal |last1=Jakobsson |first1=Eric |last2=Argüello-Miranda |first2=Orlando |last3=Chiu |first3=See-Wing |last4=Fazal |first4=Zeeshan |last5=Kruczek |first5=James |last6=Nunez-Corrales |first6=Santiago |last7=Pandit |first7=Sagar |last8=Pritchet |first8=Laura |title=Towards a Unified Understanding of Lithium Action in Basic Biology and its Significance for Applied Biology |journal=The Journal of Membrane Biology |publisher=Springer Science and Business Media LLC |volume=250 |issue=6 |date=2017-11-10 |issn=0022-2631 |doi=10.1007/s00232-017-9998-2 |pmid=29127487 |pages=587–604 |pmc=5696506}}

The monovalent lithium ion {{chem|Li|+}} competes with other ions such as sodium (immediately below lithium on the periodic table), which like lithium is also a monovalent alkali metal.

Lithium also competes with bivalent magnesium ions, whose ionic radius (86 pm) is approximately that of the lithium ion (90 pm).

Mechanisms that transport sodium across cellular membranes also transport lithium.

For instance, sodium channels (both voltage-gated and epithelial) are particularly major pathways of entry for lithium.

Lithium ions can also permeate through ligand-gated ion channels as well as cross both nuclear and mitochondrial membranes.

Like sodium, lithium can enter and partially block (although not permeate) potassium channels and calcium channels.

The biological effects of lithium are many and varied but its mechanisms of action are only partially understood.{{cite journal |last=Alda |first=M |title=Lithium in the treatment of bipolar disorder: pharmacology and pharmacogenetics |journal=Molecular Psychiatry |publisher=Nature Publishing Group |volume=20 |issue=6 |date=17 February 2015 |issn=1359-4184 |doi=10.1038/mp.2015.4 |pages=661–670 |pmid=25687772 |pmc=5125816}}

For instance, studies of lithium-treated patients with bipolar disorder show that, among many other effects, lithium partially reverses telomere shortening in these patients and also increases mitochondrial function, although how lithium produces these pharmacological effects is not understood.{{cite journal |last1=Martinsson |first1=L |last2=Wei |first2=Y |last3=Xu |first3=D |last4=Melas |first4=P A |last5=Mathé |first5=A A |last6=Schalling |first6=M |last7=Lavebratt |first7=C |last8=Backlund |first8=L |title=Long-term lithium treatment in bipolar disorder is associated with longer leukocyte telomeres |journal=Translational Psychiatry |publisher=Nature Publishing Group |volume=3 |issue=5 |year=2013 |issn=2158-3188 |doi=10.1038/tp.2013.37 |pages=e261– |pmid=23695236 |pmc=3669924}}

Even the exact mechanisms involved in lithium toxicity are not fully understood.

File:Arfwedson Johan A.jpg

Petalite (LiAlSi₄O₁₀) was discovered in 1800 by the Brazilian chemist and statesman José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva in a mine on the island of Utö, Sweden.{{cite journal |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/29658#page/256/mode/1up |page=239 |title=Des caractères et des propriétés de plusieurs nouveaux minérauxde Suède et de Norwège, avec quelques observations chimiques faites sur ces substances |last=D'Andraba |author-link=José Bonifácio de Andrada |journal=Journal de Physique, de Chimie, d'Histoire Naturelle, et des Arts |volume=51 |date=1800 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150713145045/http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/29658#page/256/mode/1up |archive-date=13 July 2015}}{{cite web |url=http://www.mindat.org/min-3171.html |title=Petalite Mineral Information |access-date=10 August 2009 |publisher=Mindat.org |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090216020902/http://www.mindat.org/min-3171.html |archive-date=16 February 2009}}{{cite web |url=http://www.webelements.com/lithium/history.html |title=Lithium:Historical information |access-date=10 August 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091016023617/http://www.webelements.com/lithium/history.html |archive-date=16 October 2009}}{{Cite book |title=Discovery of the Elements |last=Weeks |first=Mary |date=2003 |page=124 |publisher=Kessinger Publishing |location=Whitefish, Montana, United States |isbn=978-0-7661-3872-8 |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=SJIk9BPdNWcC}} |access-date=10 August 2009}}{{dead link|date=March 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} However, it was not until 1817 that Johan August Arfwedson, then working in the laboratory of the chemist Jöns Jakob Berzelius, detected the presence of a new element while analyzing petalite ore.{{cite journal |author=Berzelius |date=1817 |title=Ein neues mineralisches Alkali und ein neues Metall |trans-title=A new mineral alkali and a new metal |journal=Journal für Chemie und Physik |volume=21 |pages=44–48 |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=kAsAAAAAMAAJ |page=PA44}} |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161203044634/https://books.google.com/books?id=kAsAAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA44 |archive-date=3 December 2016}} From p. 45: "Herr August Arfwedson, ein junger sehr verdienstvoller Chemiker, der seit einem Jahre in meinem Laboratorie arbeitet, fand bei einer Analyse des Petalits von Uto's Eisengrube, einen alkalischen Bestandtheil, … Wir haben es Lithion genannt, um dadurch auf seine erste Entdeckung im Mineralreich anzuspielen, da die beiden anderen erst in der organischen Natur entdeckt wurden. Sein Radical wird dann Lithium genannt werden." (Mr. August Arfwedson, a young, very meritorious chemist, who has worked in my laboratory for a year, found during an analysis of petalite from Uto's iron mine, an alkaline component … We've named it lithion, in order to allude thereby to its first discovery in the mineral realm, since the two others were first discovered in organic nature. Its radical will then be named "lithium".){{cite web |url=http://www.chemeddl.org/collections/ptl/ptl/chemists/bios/arfwedson.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101007084500/http://www.chemeddl.org/collections/ptl/ptl/chemists/bios/arfwedson.html |archive-date=7 October 2010 |title=Johan August Arfwedson |access-date=10 August 2009 |work=Periodic Table Live!}}{{cite web |url=http://genchem.chem.wisc.edu/lab/PTL/PTL/BIOS/arfwdson.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080605152857/http://genchem.chem.wisc.edu/lab/PTL/PTL/BIOS/arfwdson.htm |archive-date=5 June 2008 |title=Johan Arfwedson |access-date=10 August 2009}}{{cite web |publisher=Elementymology & Elements Multidict |title=Lithium |first=Peter |last=van der Krogt |url=http://elements.vanderkrogt.net/element.php?sym=Li |access-date=5 October 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110616005621/http://elements.vanderkrogt.net/element.php?sym=li |archive-date=16 June 2011}} This element formed compounds similar to those of sodium and potassium, though its carbonate and hydroxide were less soluble in water and less alkaline.{{cite web |url=http://www.chemguide.co.uk/inorganic/group1/compounds.html |title=Compounds of the Group 1 Elements |access-date=10 August 2009 |last=Clark |first=Jim |date=2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090311150044/http://www.chemguide.co.uk/inorganic/group1/compounds.html |archive-date=11 March 2009}} Berzelius gave the alkaline material the name "lithion/lithina", from the Greek word λιθoς (transliterated as lithos, meaning "stone"), to reflect its discovery in a solid mineral, as opposed to potassium, which had been discovered in plant ashes, and sodium, which was known partly for its high abundance in animal blood. He named the new element "lithium".

Arfwedson later showed that this same element was present in the minerals spodumene and lepidolite.See:

• Arfwedson, Aug. (1818) {{Cite web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=71QrAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA145 |title=Afhandlingar i fysik, kemi och mineralogi |year=1818 |access-date=27 July 2017 |archive-date=25 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171125213610/https://books.google.com/books?id=71QrAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA145 |url-status=bot: unknown}}, Afhandlingar i Fysik, Kemi och Mineralogi, 6 : 145–172. (in Swedish)
• Arfwedson, Aug. (1818) [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101076802493;view=1up;seq=105 "Untersuchung einiger bei der Eisen-Grube von Utö vorkommenden Fossilien und von einem darin gefundenen neuen feuerfesten Alkali"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313170552/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101076802493&view=1up&seq=105 |date=13 March 2021 }} (Investigation of some minerals occurring at the iron mines of Utö and of a new refractory alkali found therein), Journal für Chemie und Physik, 22 (1) : 93–117. (in German) In 1818, Christian Gmelin was the first to observe that lithium salts give a bright red color to flame.{{cite journal |author=Gmelin, C. G. |year=1818 |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=E2OTAAAAIAAJ |page=238}} |title=Von dem Lithon |trans-title=On lithium |journal=Annalen der Physik |volume=59 |issue=7 |pages=238–241 |doi=10.1002/andp.18180590702 |quote=p. 238 Es löste sich in diesem ein Salz auf, das an der Luft zerfloss, und nach Art der Strontiansalze den Alkohol mit einer purpurrothen Flamme brennen machte. (There dissolved in this [solvent; namely, absolute alcohol] a salt that deliquesced in air, and in the manner of strontium salts, caused the alcohol to burn with a purple-red flame.) |bibcode=1818AnP....59..229G |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151109122750/https://books.google.com/books?id=E2OTAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA238 |archive-date=9 November 2015}} However, both Arfwedson and Gmelin tried and failed to isolate the pure element from its salts.{{Cite book |date=2004 |title=Encyclopedia of the Elements: Technical Data – History –Processing – Applications |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-3-527-30666-4 |pages=287–300 |author=Enghag, Per}} It was not isolated until 1821, when William Thomas Brande obtained it by electrolysis of lithium oxide, a process that had previously been employed by the chemist Sir Humphry Davy to isolate the alkali metals potassium and sodium.{{Cite book |last=Emsley |first=John |title=Nature's Building Blocks |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |date=2001 |isbn=978-0-19-850341-5}}Brande, William Thomas (1821) A Manual of Chemistry, 2nd ed. London, England: John Murray, vol. 2, {{Cite web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ERgAAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA57 |title=A manual of chemistry |access-date=13 August 2015 |archive-date=19 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119063555/https://books.google.com/books?id=ERgAAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA57 |url-status=bot: unknown |last1=Brande |first1=William Thomas |year=1821}}{{cite journal |publisher=Royal Institution of Great Britain |journal=The Quarterly Journal of Science and the Arts |volume=5 |title=The Quarterly journal of science and the arts |date=1818 |page=338 |access-date=5 October 2010 |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=D_4WAAAAYAAJ}} |archive-date=13 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313170619/https://books.google.com/books?id=D_4WAAAAYAAJ |url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=http://www.diracdelta.co.uk/science/source/t/i/timeline/source.html |title=Timeline science and engineering |publisher=DiracDelta Science & Engineering Encyclopedia |access-date=18 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205043252/http://www.diracdelta.co.uk/science/source/t/i/timeline/source.html |archive-date=5 December 2008}} Brande also described some pure salts of lithium, such as the chloride, and, estimating that lithia (lithium oxide) contained about 55% metal, estimated the atomic weight of lithium to be around 9.8 g/mol (modern value ~6.94 g/mol).{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/amanualchemistr01macngoog |first1=William Thomas |last1=Brande |first2=William James |last2=MacNeven |title=A manual of chemistry |date=1821 |page=[https://archive.org/details/amanualchemistr01macngoog/page/n207 191] |access-date=8 October 2010 |publisher=Long}} In 1855, larger quantities of lithium were produced through the electrolysis of lithium chloride by Robert Bunsen and Augustus Matthiessen.{{cite journal |author=Bunsen, R. |year=1855 |url=http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uva.x002457943;view=1up;seq=517 |title=Darstellung des Lithiums |trans-title=Preparation of lithium |journal=Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie |volume=94 |pages=107–111 |doi=10.1002/jlac.18550940112 |access-date=13 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181106181113/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uva.x002457943;view=1up;seq=517 |archive-date=6 November 2018 |url-status=live}} The discovery of this procedure led to commercial production of lithium in 1923 by the German company Metallgesellschaft AG, which performed an electrolysis of a liquid mixture of lithium chloride and potassium chloride.{{cite web |url=http://www.echeat.com/free-essay/Analysis-of-the-Element-Lithium-29195.aspx |title=Analysis of the Element Lithium |first=Thomas |last=Green |date=11 June 2006 |publisher=echeat |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120421105704/http://www.echeat.com/free-essay/Analysis-of-the-Element-Lithium-29195.aspx |archive-date=21 April 2012}}{{cite book |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=Ua2SVcUBHZgC |page=99}} |page=99 |title=Handbook of Lithium and Natural Calcium Chloride |isbn=978-0-08-047290-4 |last1=Garrett |first1=Donald E. |date=5 April 2004 |publisher=Elsevier |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161203010924/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ua2SVcUBHZgC&pg=PA99 |archive-date=3 December 2016}}

Australian psychiatrist John Cade is credited with reintroducing and popularizing the use of lithium to treat mania in 1949.{{Cite journal |last=Shorter |first=Edward |date=June 2009 |title=The history of lithium therapy |journal=Bipolar Disorders |volume=11 |issue=Suppl 2 |pages=4–9 |doi=10.1111/j.1399-5618.2009.00706.x |issn=1398-5647 |pmc=3712976 |pmid=19538681}} Shortly after, throughout the mid 20th century, lithium's mood stabilizing applicability for mania and depression took off in Europe and the United States.

The production and use of lithium underwent several drastic changes in history. The first major application of lithium was in high-temperature lithium greases for aircraft engines and similar applications in World War II and shortly after. This use was supported by the fact that lithium-based soaps have a higher melting point than other alkali soaps, and are less corrosive than calcium based soaps. The small demand for lithium soaps and lubricating greases was supported by several small mining operations, mostly in the US.

The demand for lithium increased dramatically during the Cold War with the production of nuclear fusion weapons. Both lithium-6 and lithium-7 produce tritium when irradiated by neutrons, and are thus useful for the production of tritium by itself, as well as a form of solid fusion fuel used inside hydrogen bombs in the form of lithium deuteride. The US became the prime producer of lithium between the late 1950s and the mid-1980s. At the end, the stockpile of lithium was roughly 42,000 tonnes of lithium hydroxide. The stockpiled lithium was depleted in lithium-6 by 75%, which was enough to affect the measured atomic weight of lithium in many standardized chemicals, and even the atomic weight of lithium in some "natural sources" of lithium ion which had been "contaminated" by lithium salts discharged from isotope separation facilities, which had found its way into ground water.{{cite web |url=http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/lithium/450494.pdf |title=Commodity Report 1994: Lithium |publisher=United States Geological Survey |access-date=3 November 2010 |date=1994 |first=Joyce A. |last=Ober |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100609113707/http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/lithium/450494.pdf |archive-date=9 June 2010}}

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Lithium is used to decrease the melting temperature of glass and to improve the melting behavior of aluminium oxide in the Hall-Héroult process.{{cite journal |last1=Deberitz |first1=Jürgen |last2=Boche |first2=Gernot |title=Lithium und seine Verbindungen – Industrielle, medizinische und wissenschaftliche Bedeutung |journal=Chemie in unserer Zeit |volume=37 |issue=4 |year=2003 |pages=258–266 |doi=10.1002/ciuz.200300264}}{{cite journal |last1=Bauer |first1=Richard |title=Lithium – wie es nicht im Lehrbuch steht |journal=Chemie in unserer Zeit |volume=19 |issue=5 |year=1985 |pages=167–173 |doi=10.1002/ciuz.19850190505}} These two uses dominated the market until the middle of the 1990s. After the end of the nuclear arms race, the demand for lithium decreased and the sale of department of energy stockpiles on the open market further reduced prices. In the mid-1990s, several companies started to isolate lithium from brine which proved to be a less expensive option than underground or open-pit mining. Most of the mines closed or shifted their focus to other materials because only the ore from zoned pegmatites could be mined for a competitive price. For example, the US mines near Kings Mountain, North Carolina, closed before the beginning of the 21st century.

The development of lithium-ion batteries increased the demand for lithium and became the dominant use in 2007.{{cite web |url=http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/lithium/myb1-2007-lithi.pdf |title=Minerals Yearbook 2007: Lithium |publisher=United States Geological Survey |access-date=3 November 2010 |date=1994 |first=Joyce A. |last=Ober |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100717174958/http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/lithium/myb1-2007-lithi.pdf |archive-date=17 July 2010}} With the surge of lithium demand in batteries in the 2000s, new companies have expanded brine isolation efforts to meet the rising demand.{{Cite book |first=Jessica Elzea |last=Kogel |title=Industrial minerals & rocks: commodities, markets, and uses |isbn=978-0-87335-233-8 |page=599 |chapter-url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=zNicdkuulE4C |page=600}} |chapter=Lithium |date=2006 |publisher=Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration |location=Littleton, Colo. |access-date=6 November 2020 |archive-date=7 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201107221728/https://books.google.com/books?id=zNicdkuulE4C&pg=PA600 |url-status=live}}{{Cite book |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=8erDL_DnsgAC |page=339}} |title=Encyclopedia of Chemical Processing and Design: Volume 28 – Lactic Acid to Magnesium Supply-Demand Relationships |publisher=M. Dekker |author=McKetta, John J. |date=18 July 2007 |isbn=978-0-8247-2478-8 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130528093232/http://books.google.com/books?id=8erDL_DnsgAC&pg=PA339 |archive-date=28 May 2013}}

{{Main|Category:Lithium compounds}}

{{Redirect|Lithium salt|Lithium salts used in medication|Lithium (medication)}}

Lithium reacts with water easily, but with noticeably less vigor than other alkali metals. The reaction forms hydrogen gas and lithium hydroxide. When placed over a flame, lithium compounds give off a striking crimson color, but when the metal burns strongly, the flame becomes a brilliant silver. Lithium will ignite and burn in oxygen when exposed to water or water vapor. In moist air, lithium rapidly tarnishes to form a black coating of lithium hydroxide (LiOH and LiOH·H₂O), lithium nitride (Li₃N) and lithium carbonate (Li₂CO₃, the result of a secondary reaction between LiOH and CO₂). Lithium is one of the few metals that react with nitrogen gas.{{cite book |page=47 |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=yb9xTj72vNAC |page=47}} |title=The history and use of our earth's chemical elements: a reference guide |author=Krebs, Robert E. |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |date=2006 |isbn=978-0-313-33438-2 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160804025424/https://books.google.com/books?id=yb9xTj72vNAC&pg=PA47 |archive-date=4 August 2016}}{{Cite journal |author1=Institute, American Geological |author2=Union, American Geophysical |author3=Society, Geochemical |title=Geochemistry international |volume=31 |issue=1–4 |page=115 |date=1 January 1994 |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=77McAQAAIAAJ}} |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160604195805/https://books.google.com/books?id=77McAQAAIAAJ |archive-date=4 June 2016 |website=Google Books}}

Because of its reactivity with water, and especially nitrogen, lithium metal is usually stored in a hydrocarbon sealant, often petroleum jelly. Although the heavier alkali metals can be stored under mineral oil, lithium is not dense enough to fully submerge itself in these liquids.

Lithium has a diagonal relationship with magnesium, an element of similar atomic and ionic radius. Chemical resemblances between the two metals include the formation of a nitride by reaction with N₂, the formation of an oxide ({{chem|Li|2|O}}) and peroxide ({{chem|Li|2|O|2}}) when burnt in O₂, salts with similar solubilities, and thermal instability of the carbonates and nitrides.{{Cite book |first=Conrad W. |last=Kamienski |author2=McDonald, Daniel P. |author3=Stark, Marshall W. |author4=Papcun, John R. |chapter=Lithium and lithium compounds |title=Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology |publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Inc. |date=2004 |doi=10.1002/0471238961.1209200811011309.a01.pub2 |isbn=978-0-471-23896-6}}{{Greenwood&Earnshaw1st|pages=97–99}} The metal reacts with hydrogen gas at high temperatures to produce lithium hydride (LiH).{{cite web |url=http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/fbeckford/CHM%20120/Lecture%20Notes/Chapter-14.ppt |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051104025202/http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/fbeckford/CHM%20120/Lecture%20Notes/Chapter-14.ppt |archive-date=4 November 2005 |title=University of Lyon course online (powerpoint) slideshow |access-date=27 July 2008 |author=Beckford, Floyd |quote=definitions:Slides 8–10 (Chapter 14)}}

Lithium forms a variety of binary and ternary materials by direct reaction with the main group elements. These Zintl phases, although highly covalent, can be viewed as salts of polyatomic anions such as Si₄^4-, P₇^3-, and Te₅^2-. With graphite, lithium forms a variety of intercalation compounds.

It dissolves in ammonia (and amines) to give [Li(NH₃)₄]⁺ and the solvated electron.

Lithium forms salt-like derivatives with all halides and pseudohalides. Some examples include the halides LiF, LiCl, LiBr, LiI, as well as the pseudohalides and related anions. Lithium carbonate has been described as the most important compound of lithium. This white solid is the principal product of beneficiation of lithium ores. It is a precursor to other salts including ceramics and materials for lithium batteries.

The compounds Lithium borohydride and Lithium aluminium hydride are useful reagents. These salts and many other lithium salts exhibit distinctively high solubility in ethers, in contrast with salts of heavier alkali metals.

In aqueous solution, the coordination complex [Li(H₂O)₄]⁺ predominates for many lithium salts. Related complexes are known with amines and ethers.

{{Main|Organolithium reagent}}

File:Butyllithium-hexamer-from-xtal-3D-balls-A.png fragment in a crystal]]

Organolithium compounds are numerous and useful. They are defined by the presence of a bond between carbon and lithium. They serve as metal-stabilized carbanions, although their solution and solid-state structures are more complex than this simplistic view.{{Cite book |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=z76sVepirh4C |page=16}} |title=Lithium chemistry: a theoretical and experimental overview |author=Sapse, Anne-Marie |author2=von R. Schleyer, Paul |date=1995 |publisher=Wiley-IEEE |isbn=978-0-471-54930-7 |pages=3–40 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160731221323/https://books.google.com/books?id=z76sVepirh4C&pg=PA16 |archive-date=31 July 2016 |url-status=live |name-list-style=amp}} Thus, these are extremely powerful bases and nucleophiles. They have also been applied in asymmetric synthesis in the pharmaceutical industry. For laboratory organic synthesis, many organolithium reagents are commercially available in solution form. These reagents are highly reactive, and are sometimes pyrophoric.

Like its inorganic compounds, almost all organic compounds of lithium formally follow the duet rule (e.g., BuLi, MeLi). However, it is important to note that in the absence of coordinating solvents or ligands, organolithium compounds form dimeric, tetrameric, and hexameric clusters (e.g., BuLi is actually [BuLi]₆ and MeLi is actually [MeLi]₄) which feature multi-center bonding and increase the coordination number around lithium. These clusters are broken down into smaller or monomeric units in the presence of solvents like dimethoxyethane (DME) or ligands like tetramethylethylenediamine (TMEDA).{{Cite journal |last1=Nichols |first1=Michael A. |last2=Williard |first2=Paul G. |date=1993-02-01 |title=Solid-state structures of n-butyllithium-TMEDA, -THF, and -DME complexes |journal=Journal of the American Chemical Society |volume=115 |issue=4 |pages=1568–1572 |doi=10.1021/ja00057a050 |bibcode=1993JAChS.115.1568N |issn=0002-7863}} As an exception to the duet rule, a two-coordinate lithate complex with four electrons around lithium, [Li(thf)₄]⁺[((Me₃Si)₃C)₂Li]^–, has been characterized crystallographically.{{Cite book |title=Organometallic chemistry: a unified approach. |last=Mehrotra |first=R. C. |year=2009 |publisher=New Age International Pvt |isbn=978-81-224-1258-1 |oclc=946063142}}

{{See also|List of countries by lithium production}}

Lithium production has greatly increased since the end of World War II. The main sources of lithium are brines and ores.

Lithium metal is produced through electrolysis applied to a mixture of fused 55% lithium chloride and 45% potassium chloride at about 450 °C.{{Greenwood&Earnshaw2nd|page=73}}

Lithium is one of the elements critical in a world running on renewable energy and dependent on batteries. This suggests that lithium will be one of the main objects of geopolitical competition, but this perspective has also been criticised for underestimating the power of economic incentives for expanded production.{{Cite journal |last=Overland |first=Indra |date=2019-03-01 |title=The geopolitics of renewable energy: Debunking four emerging myths |journal=Energy Research & Social Science |volume=49 |pages=36–40 |doi=10.1016/j.erss.2018.10.018 |issn=2214-6296 |url=https://nupi.brage.unit.no/nupi-xmlui/bitstream/11250/2579292/2/2019%2b-%2bThe%2bgeopolitics%2bof%2brenewable%2benergy%252C%2bdebunking%2bfour%2bemerging%2bmyths.pdf |access-date=25 August 2019 |archive-date=13 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313170552/https://nupi.brage.unit.no/nupi-xmlui/bitstream/handle/11250/2579292/2019+-+The+geopolitics+of+renewable+energy%2C+debunking+four+emerging+myths.pdf?sequence=2 |url-status=live |doi-access=free |bibcode=2019ERSS...49...36O}}

File:USGS-PP-1802k-K13.png

The small ionic size makes it difficult for lithium to be included in early stages of mineral crystallization. As a result, lithium remains in the molten phases, where it gets enriched, until it gets solidified in the final stages. Such lithium enrichment is responsible for all commercially promising lithium ore deposits. Brines (and dry salt) are another important source of Li⁺. Although the number of known lithium-containing deposits and brines is large, most of them are either small or have too low Li⁺ concentrations. Thus, only a few appear to be of commercial value.SGU. Mineralmarknaden, Tema: Litium [in Swedish]. Publication by the Swedish Geological Survey; 2009. ISSN 0283-2038

The US Geological Survey (USGS) estimated worldwide identified lithium reserves in 2022 and 2023 to be 26 million and 28 million tonnes, respectively.{{Cite web |url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2025/mcs2025-lithium.pdf |title=Mineral Commodity Summaries 2025 |date=31 January 2025 |website=U.S. Geological Survey |access-date=27 February 2025 |archive-date=27 February 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250227101655/https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2025/mcs2025-lithium.pdf |url-status=live}} An accurate estimate of world lithium reserves is difficult.{{Cite journal |doi=10.1038/nchem.680 |pmid=20489722 |title=Is lithium the new gold? |journal=Nature Chemistry |volume=2 |issue=6 |page=510 |year=2010 |last1=Tarascon |first1=J. M. |author-link1=Jean-Marie Tarascon |bibcode=2010NatCh...2..510T |doi-access=free}}{{cite web |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/toddwoody/2011/10/19/lithium-the-new-california-gold-rush/ |title=Lithium: The New California Gold Rush |last=Woody |first=Todd |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141219105058/http://www.forbes.com/sites/toddwoody/2011/10/19/lithium-the-new-california-gold-rush/print/ |archive-date=19 December 2014 |work=Forbes |date=19 October 2011 |url-status=live}} 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.{{cite journal |last1=Houston |first1=J. |last2=Butcher |first2=A. |last3=Ehren |first3=P. |last4=Evans |first4=K. |last5=Godfrey |first5=L. |title=The Evaluation of Brine Prospects and the Requirement for Modifications to Filing Standards |journal=Economic Geology |date=2011 |volume=106 |issue=7 |pages=1225–1239 |doi=10.2113/econgeo.106.7.1225 |bibcode=2011EcGeo.106.1225H |url=http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/17086/1/THE_EVALUATION_OF_BRINE_PROSPECTS_final%20for%20submission.pdf |access-date=28 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180720195919/http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/17086/1/THE_EVALUATION_OF_BRINE_PROSPECTS_final%20for%20submission.pdf |archive-date=20 July 2018 |url-status=live}}

In 2019, world production of lithium from spodumene was around 80,000t per annum, primarily from the Greenbushes pegmatite and from some Chinese and Chilean sources. The Talison mine in Greenbushes is reported to be the largest and to have the highest grade of ore at 2.4% Li₂O (2012 figures).{{cite web |title=Greenbushes Lithium Mine |url=http://www.goldendragoncapital.com/greenbushes-lithium-mine/ |website=Golden Dragon Capital |access-date=18 January 2019 |language=en |archive-date=19 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190119121438/http://www.goldendragoncapital.com/greenbushes-lithium-mine/ |url-status=live}}

The world's top four lithium-producing countries in 2019, as reported by the US Geological Survey, were Australia, Chile, China and Argentina.

The three countries of Chile, Bolivia, and Argentina contain a region known as the Lithium Triangle. The Lithium Triangle is known for its high-quality salt flats, which include Bolivia's Salar de Uyuni, Chile's Salar de Atacama, and Argentina's Salar de Arizaro. {{as of|2018}}, the Lithium Triangle was estimated to contain over 75% of existing known lithium reserves.{{cite web |title=The Lithium Triangle |url=https://latintrade.com/the-lithium-triangle/ |last=Halpern |first=Abel |work=Latin Trade |date=30 January 2014 |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180610055238/http://latintrade.com/the-lithium-triangle/ |archive-date=10 June 2018}} Deposits found in subsurface brines have also been found in South America throughout the Andes mountain chain. In 2010, Chile was the leading producer, followed by Argentina. Both countries recover lithium from brine pools. According to USGS, Bolivia's Uyuni Desert has 5.4 million tonnes of lithium.{{cite web |publisher=USGS |url=http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/mcs/2009/mcs2009.pdf |title=USGS Mineral Commodities Summaries 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100614002723/http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/mcs/2009/mcs2009.pdf |archive-date=14 June 2010}} Half the world's known reserves are located in Bolivia along the central eastern slope of the Andes. The Bolivian government has invested US$900 million in lithium production and in 2021 successfully produced 540 tons.{{Cite news |last=Dube |first=Ryan |title=The Place With the Most Lithium Is Blowing the Electric-Car Revolution |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/electric-cars-batteries-lithium-triangle-latin-america-11660141017 |access-date=11 August 2022 |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=11 August 2022 |language=en |issn=1042-9840 |volume=CCLXXX |number=35 |pages=A1, A8 |archive-date=10 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220810225908/https://www.wsj.com/articles/electric-cars-batteries-lithium-triangle-latin-america-11660141017 |url-status=live}}{{Cite news |author=Romero, Simon |title=In Bolivia, a Tight Grip on the Next Big Resource |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/03/world/americas/03lithium.html?ref=world |work=The New York Times |date=2 February 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701054223/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/03/world/americas/03lithium.html?ref=world |archive-date=1 July 2017}} The brines in the salt pans of the Lithium Triangle vary widely in lithium content. Concentrations can also vary over time as brines are fluids that are changeable and mobile.

In the US, lithium is recovered from brine pools in Nevada. Projects are also under development in Lithium Valley in California{{Cite magazine |last=Bernick |first=Michael |date=December 12, 2023 |title=The Jobs Perplex Of The Lithium Valley |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelbernick/2023/12/12/the-jobs-perplex-of-the-lithium-valley/ |access-date=2024-02-05 |magazine=Forbes |language=en |archive-date=5 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240205065011/https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelbernick/2023/12/12/the-jobs-perplex-of-the-lithium-valley/ |url-status=live}} and from brine in southwest Arkansas using a direct lithium extraction process, drawing on the deep brine resource in the Smackover Formation.{{cite web |url=https://www.standardlithium.com/investors/news-events/press-releases/detail/186/smackover-lithium-successfully-completes-derisking-of-dle |title=Smackover Lithium Successfully Completes Derisking of DLE Technology With Final Field-Test at South West Arkansas Project |website=standardlithium.com |date=11 March 2025 |access-date=14 March 2025}}

Since 2018 the Democratic Republic of Congo is known to have the largest lithium spodumene hard-rock deposit in the world.{{Cite news |date=December 10, 2018 |title=This Congo project could supply the world with lithium |work=MiningDotCom |url=https://www.mining.com/one-congo-project-supply-world-lithium/ |access-date=26 March 2021 |archive-date=14 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414030827/https://www.mining.com/one-congo-project-supply-world-lithium/ |url-status=live}} The deposit located in Manono, DRC, may hold up to 1.5 billion tons of lithium spodumene hard-rock. The two largest pegmatites (known as the Carriere de l'Este Pegmatite and the Roche Dure Pegmatite) are each of similar size or larger than the famous Greenbushes Pegmatite in Western Australia. Thus, the Democratic Republic of Congo is expected to be a significant supplier of lithium to the world with its high grade and low impurities.

On 16 July 2018 2.5 million tonnes of high-grade lithium resources and 124 million pounds of uranium resources were found in the Falchani hard rock deposit in the region Puno, Peru.{{cite news |title=Plateau Energy Metals Peru unit finds large lithium resources |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/peru-lithium/update-1-plateau-energy-metals-peru-unit-finds-large-lithium-resources-idUSL1N1UC0XF |work=Reuters |date=16 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180726204758/https://www.reuters.com/article/peru-lithium/update-1-plateau-energy-metals-peru-unit-finds-large-lithium-resources-idUSL1N1UC0XF |archive-date=26 July 2018 |url-status=live}}

In 2020, Australia granted Major Project Status (MPS) to the Finniss Lithium Project for a strategically important lithium deposit: an estimated 3.45 million tonnes (Mt) of mineral resource at 1.4 percent lithium oxide.{{cite news |title=Australia grants MPS for Core Lithium's Finniss lithium project |url=https://www.miningmetalnews.com/20210317/1786/australia-grants-mps-core-lithiums-finniss-lithium-project |last=Matthis |first=Simon |work=MiningMetalNews |date=17 March 2021 |access-date=13 October 2022 |archive-date=13 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221013033439/https://www.miningmetalnews.com/20210317/1786/australia-grants-mps-core-lithiums-finniss-lithium-project |url-status=dead}}[https://primero.com.au/projects/finniss-lithium/ CORE Lithium : Finnis Lithium] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221013033439/https://primero.com.au/projects/finniss-lithium/ |date=13 October 2022 }}, retrieved 13 October 2022 Operational mining began in 2022.{{cite news |title=Finniss Lithium Project, Northern Territory, Australia |url=https://www.mining-technology.com/projects/finniss-lithium-project/ |work=Mining Technology |date=13 January 2022 |access-date=13 October 2022 |archive-date=13 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221013033440/https://www.mining-technology.com/projects/finniss-lithium-project/ |url-status=live}}

A deposit discovered in 2013 in Wyoming's Rock Springs Uplift is estimated to contain 228,000 tons.{{clarify|date=September 2023}} Additional deposits in the same formation were estimated to be as much as 18 million tons.{{cite web |first=John C.K. |last=Daly |publisher=OilPrice.com |date=26 April 2013 |title=Researchers Have Stumbled On A Massive Lithium Mine That Could Meet All US Demand |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/new-wyoming-lithium-deposit-could-meet-all-us-demand-2013-4 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130503085509/http://www.businessinsider.com/new-wyoming-lithium-deposit-could-meet-all-us-demand-2013-4 |archive-date=3 May 2013 |website=Business Insider |location=New York City, U.S.}} Similarly in Nevada, the McDermitt Caldera hosts lithium-bearing volcanic muds that consist of the largest known deposits of lithium within the United States.{{cite journal |last1=Benson |first1=Tom |title=Lithium enrichment in intracontinental rhyolite magmas leads to Li deposits in caldera basins |journal=Nature Communications |date=16 August 2016 |volume=8 |issue=1 |page=270 |doi=10.1038/s41467-017-00234-y |pmid=28814716 |pmc=5559592}}

The Pampean Pegmatite Province in Argentina is known to have a total of at least 200,000 tons of spodumene with lithium oxide (Li₂O) grades varying between 5 and 8 wt %.{{Cite journal |title=The Li-Bearing Pegmatites from the Pampean Pegmatite Province, Argentina: Metallogenesis and Resources |journal=Minerals |publisher=MDPI |last1=Galliski |first1=Miguel Ángel |last3=Roda-Robles |first3=Encarnación |last4=von Quadt |first4=Albrecht |doi=10.3390/min12070841 |year=2022 |last2=Márquez-Zavalía |first2=María Florencia |volume=12 |issue=7 |page=841 |bibcode=2022Mine...12..841G |doi-access=free}}

In Russia the largest lithium deposit Kolmozerskoye is located in Murmansk region. In 2023, Polar Lithium, a joint venture between Nornickel and Rosatom, has been granted the right to develop the deposit. The project aims to produce 45,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate and hydroxide per year and plans to reach full design capacity by 2030.{{Cite web |title=Polar Lithium awarded right to develop Russia's largest lithium deposit |date=9 February 2023 |url=https://metals-news.com/breaking-news/polar-lithium-awarded-right-to-develop-russias-largest-lithium-deposit/ |access-date=22 July 2023 |archive-date=22 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230722162141/https://metals-news.com/breaking-news/polar-lithium-awarded-right-to-develop-russias-largest-lithium-deposit/ |url-status=live}}

Another potential source of lithium {{as of|2012|lc=y}} was identified as the leachates of geothermal wells, which are carried to the surface.Parker, Ann. [https://www.llnl.gov/str/JanFeb05/Bourcier.html Mining Geothermal Resources] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120917035952/https://www.llnl.gov/str/JanFeb05/Bourcier.html|date=17 September 2012}}. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Recovery of this type of lithium has been demonstrated in the field; the lithium is separated by simple filtration.Patel, P. (16 November 2011) [https://www.technologyreview.com/2011/11/16/21117/startup-to-capture-lithium-from-geothermal-plants/ Startup to Capture Lithium from Geothermal Plants] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220721191404/https://www.technologyreview.com/2011/11/16/21117/startup-to-capture-lithium-from-geothermal-plants/ |date=21 July 2022 }}. technologyreview.com{{clarify|what about the economic viability of the concept? has it been demonstrated beyond the academic literature?|date=March 2021}} Reserves are more limited than those of brine reservoirs and hard rock.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

File:Lithium prices.webp

In 1998, the price of lithium metal was about {{nowrap|95 USD/kg}} (or US$43/lb).{{cite web |url=http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/lithium/450798.pdf |title=Lithium |access-date=19 August 2007 |last=Ober |first=Joyce A. |pages=77–78 |publisher=United States Geological Survey |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070711062102/http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/lithium/450798.pdf |archive-date=11 July 2007}} After the 2008 financial crisis, major suppliers, such as Sociedad Química y Minera (SQM), dropped lithium carbonate pricing by 20%.{{cite web |url=http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sqm-announces-new-lithium-prices-62933122.html |title=SQM Announces New Lithium Prices – SANTIAGO, Chile |agency=PR Newswire |date=30 September 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130530015745/http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sqm-announces-new-lithium-prices-62933122.html |archive-date=30 May 2013}} Prices rose in 2012. A 2012 Business Week article outlined an oligopoly in the lithium space: "SQM, controlled by billionaire Julio Ponce, is the second-largest, followed by Rockwood, which is backed by Henry Kravis's KKR & Co., and Philadelphia-based FMC", with Talison mentioned as the biggest producer. Global consumption may jump to 300,000 metric tons a year by 2020{{failed verification|date=March 2021}} from about 150,000 tons in 2012, to match the demand for lithium batteries that has been growing at about 25% a year, outpacing the 4% to 5% overall gain in lithium production.{{cite web |last=Riseborough |first=Jesse |url=http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-06-19/ipad-boom-strains-lithium-supplies-after-prices-triple |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120622183939/http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-06-19/ipad-boom-strains-lithium-supplies-after-prices-triple |archive-date=22 June 2012 |title=IPad Boom Strains Lithium Supplies After Prices Triple |work=Bloomberg BusinessWeek |access-date=1 May 2013}}{{update after|2013}}

The price information service ISE – Institute of Rare Earths Elements and Strategic Metals – gives for various lithium substances in the average of March to August 2022 the following kilo prices stable in the course: Lithium carbonate, purity 99.5% min, from various producers between 63 and 72 EUR/kg. Lithium hydroxide monohydrate LiOH 56.5% min, China, at 66 to 72 EUR/kg; delivered South Korea – 73 EUR/kg. Lithium metal 99.9% min, delivered China – 42 EUR/kg.{{Cite web |url=https://en.institut-seltene-erden.de/ |title=ISE Metal-quotes |access-date=29 September 2022 |archive-date=9 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230709151623/https://en.institut-seltene-erden.de/ |url-status=live}}

File:Preliminary Design And Analysis of a process for the extraction of lithium from seawater.pdf

Lithium and its compounds were historically isolated and extracted from hard rock. However, by the 1990s mineral springs, brine pools, and brine deposits had become the dominant source.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}} Most of these were in Chile, Argentina and Bolivia and the lithium is extracted from the brine by evaporative processes. Large lithium-clay deposits under development in the McDermitt caldera (Nevada, United States) require concentrated sulfuric acid to leach lithium from the clay ore.{{cite tech report |title=Thacker Pass Lithium Mine Project Final Environmental Impact Statement |number=DOI-BLM-NV-W010-2020-0012-EIS |date=December 4, 2020 |publisher=Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service |url=https://eplanning.blm.gov/public_projects/1503166/200352542/20030633/250036832/Thacker%20Pass_FEIS_Chapters1-6_508.pdf |access-date=March 16, 2021}}

By early 2021, much of the lithium mined globally came from either "spodumene, the mineral contained in hard rocks found in places such as Australia and North Carolina"{{cite news |last1=Patterson |first1=Scott |last2=Ramkumar |first2=Amrith |date=9 March 2021 |title=America's Battery-Powered Car Hopes Ride on Lithium. One Producer Paves the Way |work=The Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/americas-battery-powered-car-hopes-ride-on-lithium-one-producer-paves-the-way-11615311932 |url-status=live |access-date=13 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210312162240/https://www.wsj.com/articles/americas-battery-powered-car-hopes-ride-on-lithium-one-producer-paves-the-way-11615311932 |archive-date=12 March 2021}} or from salty brine pumped directly out of the ground, as it is in locations in Chile.{{cite journal |last1=Cabello |first1=J |year=2022 |title=Reserves, resources and lithium exploration in the salt flats of northern Chile |url=http://www.andeangeology.cl/index.php/revista1/article/view/V49n2-3444/html |journal=Andean Geology |volume=49 |issue=2 |pages=297–306 |doi=10.5027/andgeoV49n2-3444] |doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 |access-date=3 July 2022 |archive-date=12 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221212053906/http://www.andeangeology.cl/index.php/revista1/article/view/V49n2-3444/html |url-status=live}} In Chile's Salar de Atacama, the lithium concentration in the brine is raised by solar evaporation in a system of ponds. The enrichment by evaporation process may require up to one-and-a-half years, when the brine reaches a lithium content of 6%. The final processing in this example is done in Salar del Carmen and La Negra near the coastal city of Antofagasta where pure lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide, and lithium chloride are produced from the brine.

Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) technologies are being developed as alternatives to the evaporitic technology long used to extract lithium salts from brines. The traditional evaporitic technology is a long duration process requiring large amounts of land and intensive water use, and can only be applied to the large continental brines. In contrast, DLE technologies are proposed to tackle the environmental and techno–economic shortcomings by avoiding brine evaporation.{{Cite journal |last1=Vera |first1=María L. |last2=Torres |first2=Walter R. |last3=Galli |first3=Claudia I. |last4=Chagnes |first4=Alexandre |last5=Flexer |first5=Victoria |date=March 2023 |title=Environmental impact of direct lithium extraction from brines |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s43017-022-00387-5 |journal=Nature Reviews Earth & Environment |language=en |volume=4 |issue=3 |pages=149–165 |doi=10.1038/s43017-022-00387-5 |bibcode=2023NRvEE...4..149V |issn=2662-138X}}{{Cite journal |last1=Voskoboynik |first1=D.M. |last2=Andreucci |first2=D. |date=2022 |title=Greening extractivism: environmental impact of direct lithium extraction from brines |journal=Nature Reviews Earth & Environment |volume=4 |pages=149–165}} Some recent lithium mining projects are attempting to bring DLE into commercial production by these non-evaporative DLE approaches.

One method direct lithium extraction, as well as other valuable minerals, is to process geothermal brine water through an electrolytic cell, located within a membrane.{{Cite journal |last1=Sun |first1=Sen |last2=Yu |first2=Xiaoping |last3=Li |first3=Mingli |last4=Duo |first4=Ji |last5=Guo |first5=Yafei |last6=Deng |first6=Tianlong |date=2020-02-20 |title=Green recovery of lithium from geothermal water based on a novel lithium iron phosphate electrochemical technique |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S095965261934048X |journal=Journal of Cleaner Production |language=en |volume=247 |page=119178 |doi=10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.119178 |bibcode=2020JCPro.24719178S |s2cid=211445414 |issn=0959-6526}}{{update after|2024}}

The use of electrodialysis and electrochemical intercalation was proposed in 2020 to extract lithium compounds from seawater (which contains lithium at 0.2 parts per million).{{Cite journal |author=Chong Liu |author2=Yanbin Li |author3=Dingchang Lin |author4=Po-Chun Hsu |author5=Bofei Liu |author6=Gangbin Yan |author7=Tong Wu Yi Cui |author8=Steven Chu |title=Lithium Extraction from Seawater through Pulsed Electrochemical Intercalation |journal=Joule |date=2020 |volume=4 |issue=7 |pages=1459–1469 |doi=10.1016/j.joule.2020.05.017 |bibcode=2020Joule...4.1459L |s2cid=225527170}}{{Cite journal |author=Tsuyoshi Hoshino |title=Innovative lithium recovery technique from seawater by using world-first dialysis with a lithium ionic superconductor |journal=Desalination |volume=359 |date=2015 |pages=59–63 |doi=10.1016/j.desal.2014.12.018 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2015Desal.359...59H}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/seawater-could-provide-nearly-unlimited-amounts-critical-battery-material |title=Seawater could provide nearly unlimited amounts of critical battery material |author=Robert F. Service |date=July 13, 2020 |magazine=Science |access-date=26 December 2020 |archive-date=13 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210113062048/https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/07/seawater-could-provide-nearly-unlimited-amounts-critical-battery-material |url-status=live}}{{Cite journal |last1=Yang |first1=Sixie |last2=Zhang |first2=Fan |last3=Ding |first3=Huaiping |last4=He |first4=Ping |last5=Zhou |first5=Haoshen |date=2018-09-19 |title=Lithium Metal Extraction from Seawater |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2542435118302927 |journal=Joule |language=en |volume=2 |issue=9 |pages=1648–1651 |doi=10.1016/j.joule.2018.07.006 |bibcode=2018Joule...2.1648Y |s2cid=189702476 |issn=2542-4351 |access-date=21 October 2020 |archive-date=19 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210119111157/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2542435118302927 |url-status=live}} Ion-selective cells within a membrane in principle could collect lithium either by use of electric field or a concentration difference. In 2024, a redox/electrodialysis system was claimed to offer enormous cost savings, shorter timelines, and less environmental damage than traditional evaporation-based systems.{{Cite web |last=Ghoshal |first=Abhimanyu |date=2024-08-27 |title=Stanford breakthrough promises 50% cheaper, cleaner lithium extraction |url=https://newatlas.com/materials/cheaper-cleaner-lithium-extraction/?utm_source=New+Atlas+Subscribers&utm_campaign=053646e762-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2024_08_27_01_57&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_65b67362bd-053646e762-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D |access-date=2024-08-29 |website=New Atlas |language=en-US}}

{{Further|Environmental impacts of lithium-ion batteries}}

File:Environmental protests in Belgrade, 11 December 2021.jpg in Belgrade, Serbia, 11 December 2021]]

The manufacturing processes of lithium, including the solvent and mining waste, presents significant environmental and health hazards.{{cite journal |last1=Amui |first1=Rachid |title=Commodities At a Glance: Special issue on strategic battery raw materials |journal=United Nations Conference on Trade and Development |date=February 2020 |volume=13 |issue=UNCTAD/DITC/COM/2019/5 |url=https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/ditccom2019d5_en.pdf |access-date=10 February 2021 |archive-date=3 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210203083250/https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/ditccom2019d5_en.pdf |url-status=live}}{{cite report |date=2013 |title=Application of Life-Cycle Assessment to Nanoscale Technology: Lithium-ion Batteries for Electric Vehicles |url=https://www.epa.gov/saferchoice/partnership-conduct-life-cycle-assessment-lithium-ion-batteries-and-nanotechnology |publisher=U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) |location=Washington, DC |id=EPA 744-R-12-001 |access-date=24 March 2021 |archive-date=11 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170711070403/https://www.epa.gov/saferchoice/partnership-conduct-life-cycle-assessment-lithium-ion-batteries-and-nanotechnology |url-status=live}}{{cite web |title=Can Nanotech Improve Li-ion Battery Performance |url=http://www.environmentalleader.com/2013/05/30/nanotech-can-improve-li-ion-battery-performance/ |publisher=Environmental Leader |date=30 May 2013 |access-date=3 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160821064806/http://www.environmentalleader.com/2013/05/30/nanotech-can-improve-li-ion-battery-performance/ |archive-date=21 August 2016}}

Lithium extraction can be fatal to aquatic life due to water pollution.{{cite magazine |last1=Katwala |first1=Amit |title=The spiralling environmental cost of our lithium battery addiction |url=https://www.wired.co.uk/article/lithium-batteries-environment-impact |magazine=Wired |publisher=Condé Nast Publications |access-date=10 February 2021 |archive-date=9 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210209172109/https://www.wired.co.uk/article/lithium-batteries-environment-impact |url-status=live}} It is known to cause surface water contamination, drinking water contamination, respiratory problems, ecosystem degradation and landscape damage. It also leads to unsustainable water consumption in arid regions (1.9 million liters per ton of lithium). Massive byproduct generation of lithium extraction also presents unsolved problems, such as large amounts of magnesium and lime waste.{{cite news |last1=Draper |first1=Robert |title=This metal is powering today's technology—at what price? |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2019/02/lithium-is-fueling-technology-today-at-what-cost/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190118232341/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2019/02/lithium-is-fueling-technology-today-at-what-cost/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 January 2019 |url-access=subscription |access-date=10 February 2021 |work=National Geographic |issue=February 2019 |publisher=National Geographic Partners}}

Although lithium occurs naturally, it is a non-renewable resource yet is seen as crucial in the transition away from fossil fuels, and the extraction process has been criticised for long-term degradation of water resources.{{Cite web |title=How sustainable is lithium? |url=https://www.schroders.com/en-gb/uk/intermediary/insights/how-sustainable-is-lithium-/ |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=www.schroders.com |language=en-gb}}{{Cite book |title=¿Cómo se forman las aguas ricas en litio en el Salar de Atacama? |last1=Álvarez Amado |first1=Fernanda |publisher=Universidad de Concepción |year=2023 |language=Spanish |trans-title=How does the lithium-rich waters of Salar de Atacama form?|series=Serie Comunicacional CRHIAM |last2=Poblete González |first2=Camila |last3=Matte Estrada |first3=Daniel |last4=Campos Quiroz |first4=Dilan |last5=Tardani |first5=Daniele |last6=Gutiérrez |first6=Leopoldo |last7=Arumí |first7=José Luis|page=22}}

In the United States, open-pit mining and mountaintop removal mining compete with brine extraction mining.{{cite news |title=The Lithium Gold Rush: Inside the Race to Power Electric Vehicles |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/06/business/lithium-mining-race.html |access-date=6 May 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=6 May 2021 |archive-date=6 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506143008/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/06/business/lithium-mining-race.html |url-status=live}} Environmental concerns include wildlife habitat degradation, potable water pollution including arsenic and antimony contamination, unsustainable water table reduction, and massive mining waste, including radioactive uranium byproduct and sulfuric acid discharge.

During 2021, a series of mass protests broke out in Serbia against the construction of a lithium mine in Western Serbia by the Rio Tinto corporation.{{Cite web|agency=Agence France-Presse|date=2021-12-05|title=Rio Tinto lithium mine: thousands of protesters block roads across Serbia|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/05/rio-tinto-lithium-mine-thousands-of-protesters-block-roads-across-serbia|access-date=2021-12-08|website=The Guardian|language=en}} In 2024, an EU backed lithium mining project created large scale protests in Serbia.{{cite news |last1=Ferreira Santos |first1=Sofia |title=Thousands protest against lithium mining in Serbia |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cged9qgwrvyo |access-date=13 August 2024 |agency=BBC |date=10 August 2024}}

Some animal species associated to salt lakes in the Lithium Triangle are particularly threatened by the damages of lithium production to the local ecosystem, including the Andean flamingo{{cite journal |doi=10.1038/d41586-018-05233-7 |pmid=29789737 |title=Chilean Atacama site imperilled by lithium mining |journal=Nature |volume=557 |issue=7706 |pages=492 |year=2018 |last1=Gutiérrez |first1=Jorge S |last2=Navedo |first2=Juan G |last3=Soriano-Redondo |first3=Andrea |bibcode=2018Natur.557..492G |doi-access=free}} and Orestias parinacotensis, a small fish locally known as "karachi".{{Cite news |title=Karachi, el raro pez chileno del altiplano que vive en salares y peligra por la extracción del litio |last=Jerez |first=Sara |date=2024-11-20 |url=https://www.biobiochile.cl/especial/aqui-tierra/noticias/2024/11/20/karachi-el-raro-pez-chileno-del-altiplano-que-vive-en-salares-y-peligra-por-la-extraccion-del-litio.shtml |access-date=2024-12-13 |work=Radio Bío-Bío |language=es}}

A study of relationships between lithium extraction companies and indigenous peoples in Argentina indicated that the state may not have protected indigenous peoples' right to free prior and informed consent, and that extraction companies generally controlled community access to information and set the terms for discussion of the projects and benefit sharing.{{Cite journal |last1=Marchegiani |last2=Morgera |last3=Parks |date=November 21, 2019 |title=Indigenous peoples'rights to natural resources in Argentina: the challenges of impact assessment, consent and fair andequitable benefit-sharing in cases of lithium mining |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337431438 |journal=The International Journal of Human Rights}}

In Zimbabwe, the global increase in lithium prices in the early 2020s triggered a 'lithium fever', that led to conflicts between small-scale artisanal miners and large-scale mining companies, often Chinese-owned, backed by the Zimbabwean government which had an interest in attracting foreign investments. Artisanal miners occupied parts of the Sandawana mines and a privately owned lithium claim area in Goromonzi, a rural area close to the capital Harare. The artisanal miners were later evicted after the area was cordoned off and shut down by Zimbabwe’s Environmental Management Agency.{{Cite journal |last=Mkodzongi |first=Grasian |date=March 21, 2025 |title=Local inclusion and regulatory control key to sustainable mining : Lessons learnt from China's scramble for Zimbabwe's lithium reserves |url=https://nai.uu.se/stories-and-events/news/2025-03-21-local-inclusion-and-regulatory-control-key-to-sustainable-mining.html |journal=NAI Policy Notes 2025:3, the Nordic Africa Institute}}

Development of the Thacker Pass lithium mine in Nevada, United States, has met with protests and lawsuits from several indigenous tribes who have said they were not provided free prior and informed consent and that the project threatens cultural and sacred sites.{{Cite journal |last=Price |first=Austin |date=Summer 2021 |title=The Rush for White Gold |url=https://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/magazine/entry/the-rush-for-white-gold/ |journal=Earth Island Journal |access-date=29 October 2021 |archive-date=29 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211029004245/https://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/magazine/entry/the-rush-for-white-gold/ |url-status=live}} They have also expressed concerns that development of the project will create risks to indigenous women, because resource extraction is linked to missing and murdered indigenous women.{{Cite news |last=Chadwell |first=Jeri |date=July 21, 2021 |title=Judge to decide on injunction request to halt work on Thacker Pass lithium mine |work=This is Reno |url=https://thisisreno.com/2021/07/judge-to-decide-on-injunction-request-to-halt-work-on-thacker-pass-lithium-mine/ |access-date=October 12, 2021 |archive-date=29 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211029101346/https://thisisreno.com/2021/07/judge-to-decide-on-injunction-request-to-halt-work-on-thacker-pass-lithium-mine/ |url-status=live}} Protestors have been occupying the site of the proposed mine since January 2021.{{Cite news |title=Thacker Pass Lithium mine approval draws around-the-clock protest |url=https://sierranevadaally.org/2021/01/19/thacker-pass-lithium-mine-approval-draws-around-the-clock-protest/ |access-date=March 16, 2021 |work=Sierra Nevada Ally |date=January 19, 2021 |archive-date=29 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211029145314/https://www.sierranevadaally.org/2021/01/19/thacker-pass-lithium-mine-approval-draws-around-the-clock-protest/ |url-status=live}}

File:Lithium Uses Chart 2020.png

In 2021, most lithium is used to make lithium-ion batteries for electric cars and mobile devices.

Lithium oxide is widely used as a flux for processing silica, reducing the melting point and viscosity of the material and leading to glazes with improved physical properties including low coefficients of thermal expansion. Worldwide, this is one of the largest use for lithium compounds.{{Cite news |url=https://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/lithium/mcs-2016-lithi.pdf |title=Lithium |date=2016 |via=US Geological Survey (USGS) |access-date=29 November 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161130163912/http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/lithium/mcs-2016-lithi.pdf |archive-date=30 November 2016}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.fmclithium.com/Portals/FMCLithiumFineChemicals/Content/Docs/Worldwide+Demand+by+Sector.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140907204758/http://www.fmclithium.com/Portals/FMCLithiumFineChemicals/Content/Docs/Worldwide%20Demand%20by%20Sector.pdf |title=Fmclithium.com |archive-date=7 September 2014 |website=www.fmclithium.com}} Glazes containing lithium oxides are used for ovenware. Lithium carbonate (Li₂CO₃) is generally used in this application because it converts to the oxide upon heating.{{cite web |url=http://www.chemguide.co.uk/inorganic/group1/compounds.html |title=Some Compounds of the Group 1 Elements |last1=Clark |first1=Jim |date=2005 |website=chemguide.co.uk |access-date=8 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130627011258/http://www.chemguide.co.uk/inorganic/group1/compounds.html |archive-date=27 June 2013}}

Late in the 20th century, lithium became an important component of battery electrolytes and electrodes, because of its high electrode potential. Because of its low atomic mass, it has a high charge- and power-to-weight ratio. A typical lithium-ion battery can generate approximately 3 volts per cell, compared with 2.1 volts for lead-acid and 1.5 volts for zinc-carbon. Lithium-ion batteries, which are rechargeable and have a high energy density, differ from lithium metal batteries, which are disposable (primary) batteries with lithium or its compounds as the anode.{{cite web |url=http://www.batteryreview.org/disposable-batteries.html |title=Disposable Batteries – Choosing between Alkaline and Lithium Disposable Batteries |publisher=Batteryreview.org |access-date=10 October 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140106031920/http://www.batteryreview.org/disposable-batteries.html |archive-date=6 January 2014}}{{cite web |url=http://www.emc2.cornell.edu/content/view/battery-anodes.html |title=Battery Anodes > Batteries & Fuel Cells > Research > The Energy Materials Center at Cornell |publisher=Emc2.cornell.edu |access-date=10 October 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131222234030/http://www.emc2.cornell.edu/content/view/battery-anodes.html |archive-date=22 December 2013}} Other rechargeable batteries that use lithium include the lithium-ion polymer battery, lithium iron phosphate battery, and the nanowire battery.

Over the years opinions have been differing about potential growth. A 2008 study concluded that "realistically achievable lithium carbonate production would be sufficient for only a small fraction of future PHEV and EV global market requirements", that "demand from the portable electronics sector will absorb much of the planned production increases in the next decade", and that "mass production of lithium carbonate is not environmentally sound, it will cause irreparable ecological damage to ecosystems that should be protected and that LiIon propulsion is incompatible with the notion of the 'Green Car'".

{{Main|Lithium grease}}

The third most common use of lithium is in greases. Lithium hydroxide is a strong base, and when heated with a fat, it produces a soap, such as lithium stearate from stearic acid. Lithium soap has the ability to thicken oils, and it is used to manufacture all-purpose, high-temperature lubricating greases.{{Cite book |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=J_AkNu-Y1wQC |page=559}} |page=559 |title=Fuels and lubricants handbook: technology, properties, performance, and testing |volume=1 |author=Totten, George E. |author2=Westbrook, Steven R. |author3=Shah, Rajesh J. |name-list-style=amp |publisher=ASTM International |date=2003 |isbn=978-0-8031-2096-9 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160723033807/https://books.google.com/books?id=J_AkNu-Y1wQC&pg=PA559 |archive-date=23 July 2016}}{{cite book |pages=150–152 |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=3FkMrP4Hlw0C |page=152}} |title=Significance of tests for petroleum products |author=Rand, Salvatore J. |publisher=ASTM International |date=2003 |isbn=978-0-8031-2097-6 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160731221639/https://books.google.com/books?id=3FkMrP4Hlw0C&pg=PA152 |archive-date=31 July 2016}}

Lithium (e.g. as lithium carbonate) is used as an additive to continuous casting mould flux slags where it increases fluidity,{{citation |title=The Theory and Practice of Mold Fluxes Used in Continuous Casting: A Compilation of Papers on Continuous Casting Fluxes Given at the 61st and 62nd Steelmaking Conference |publisher=Iron and Steel Society}}{{Cite journal |doi=10.4028/www.scientific.net/MSF.675-677.877 |title=Effects of Li₂CO₃ on Properties of Mould Flux for High Speed Continuous Casting |journal=Materials Science Forum |volume=675–677 |pages=877–880 |year=2011 |last1=Lu |first1=Y. Q. |last2=Zhang |first2=G. D. |last3=Jiang |first3=M. F. |last4=Liu |first4=H. X. |last5=Li |first5=T. |s2cid=136666669}} a use which accounts for 5% of global lithium use (2011). Lithium compounds are also used as additives (fluxes) to foundry sand for iron casting to reduce veining.{{citation |url=http://www.afsinc.org/multimedia/contentMC.cfm?ItemNumber=16784 |title=Testing 1-2-3: Eliminating Veining Defects |work=Modern Casting |date=July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402163428/http://www.afsinc.org/multimedia/contentMC.cfm?ItemNumber=16784 |archive-date=2 April 2015 |access-date=15 March 2015}}

Lithium (as lithium fluoride) is used as an additive to aluminium smelters (Hall–Héroult process), reducing melting temperature and increasing electrical resistance,{{citation |title=Chemical and Physical Properties of the Hall-Héroult Electrolyte |first=W. |last=Haupin |page=449 |work=Molten Salt Chemistry: An Introduction and Selected Applications |editor-first=Gleb |editor-last=Mamantov |editor-first2=Roberto |editor-last2=Marassi |publisher=Springer |date=1987}} a use which accounts for 3% of production (2011).

When used as a flux for welding or soldering, metallic lithium promotes the fusing of metals during the process{{Cite book |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=Ua2SVcUBHZgC}} |title=Handbook of Lithium and Natural Calcium Chloride |last=Garrett |first=Donald E. |date=2004-04-05 |publisher=Academic Press |isbn=978-0-08-047290-4 |page=200 |language=en |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161203191847/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ua2SVcUBHZgC |archive-date=3 December 2016}} and eliminates the formation of oxides by absorbing impurities.{{Cite book |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=OG7PzP5xiHwC |page=171}} |title=Aluminum-Lithium Alloys: Processing, Properties, and Applications |last1=Prasad |first1=N. Eswara |last2=Gokhale |first2=Amol |last3=Wanhill |first3=R. J. H. |date=2013-09-20 |publisher=Butterworth-Heinemann |isbn=978-0-12-401679-8 |language=en |access-date=6 November 2020 |archive-date=1 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101021730/https://books.google.com/books?id=OG7PzP5xiHwC&q=metallic+lithium+flux+removes+impurities&pg=PA171 |url-status=live}} Alloys of the metal with aluminium, cadmium, copper and manganese are used to make high-performance, low density aircraft parts (see also Lithium-aluminium alloys).{{cite book |author1=Davis, Joseph R. ASM International. Handbook Committee |title=Aluminum and aluminum alloys |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=Lskj5k3PSIcC |page=121}} |access-date=16 May 2011 |date=1993 |publisher=ASM International |isbn=978-0-87170-496-2 |pages=121– |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130528093207/http://books.google.com/books?id=Lskj5k3PSIcC&pg=PA121 |archive-date=28 May 2013}}

Lithium has been found effective in assisting the perfection of silicon nano-welds in electronic components for electric batteries and other devices.{{cite journal |last1=Karki |first1=Khim |last2=Epstein |first2=Eric |last3=Cho |first3=Jeong-Hyun |last4=Jia |first4=Zheng |last5=Li |first5=Teng |last6=Picraux |first6=S. Tom |last7=Wang |first7=Chunsheng |last8=Cumings |first8=John |title=Lithium-Assisted Electrochemical Welding in Silicon Nanowire Battery Electrodes |journal=Nano Letters |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=1392–7 |year=2012 |pmid=22339576 |doi=10.1021/nl204063u |bibcode=2012NanoL..12.1392K |url=http://terpconnect.umd.edu/~lit/publications/TengLi-Pub43-NL-2012.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810065805/http://terpconnect.umd.edu/~lit/publications/TengLi-Pub43-NL-2012.pdf |archive-date=10 August 2017}}

File:FlammenfärbungLi.png is due to its rose-red flame.{{cite journal |last1=Koch |first1=Ernst-Christian |title=Special Materials in Pyrotechnics: III. Application of Lithium and its Compounds in Energetic Systems |journal=Propellants, Explosives, Pyrotechnics |volume=29 |issue=2 |year=2004 |pages=67–80 |doi=10.1002/prep.200400032}}]]

Lithium compounds are used as pyrotechnic colorants and oxidizers in red fireworks and flares.{{Cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mtth5g59dEIC&pg=PA1089 |chapter=1.2.1 Inorganic Lithium Compounds [2] |title=Inorganic Chemistry |isbn=978-0-12-352651-9 |access-date=22 February 2016 |archive-date=19 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119063602/https://books.google.com/books?id=Mtth5g59dEIC&pg=PA1089 |url-status=dead |editor-last1=Wiberg |editor-first1=Egon |editor-last2=Wiberg |editor-first2=Nils |editor-last3=Holleman |editor-first3=Arnold Frederick |year=2001 |publisher=Academic Press |page=1089}}

Lithium chloride and lithium bromide are hygroscopic and are used as desiccants for gas streams. Lithium hydroxide and lithium peroxide are the salts most commonly used in confined areas, such as aboard spacecraft and submarines, for carbon dioxide removal and air purification. Lithium hydroxide absorbs carbon dioxide from the air by forming lithium carbonate, and is preferred over other alkaline hydroxides for its low weight.

Lithium peroxide (Li₂O₂) in presence of moisture not only reacts with carbon dioxide to form lithium carbonate, but also releases oxygen.{{cite book |chapter=Air Quality Systems for Related Enclosed Spaces: Spacecraft Air |author=Mulloth, L.M. |author2=Finn, J.E. |name-list-style=amp |title=The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry |date=2005 |volume=4H |pages=383–404 |doi=10.1007/b107253 |isbn=978-3-540-25019-7}}{{cite web |url=http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf&AD=AD0619497 |title=Application of lithium chemicals for air regeneration of manned spacecraft |publisher=Lithium Corporation of America & Aerospace Medical Research Laboratories |date=1965 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121007040028/http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf&AD=AD0619497 |archive-date=7 October 2012}} The reaction is as follows:

:2 Li₂O₂ + 2 CO₂ → 2 Li₂CO₃ + O₂

Some of the aforementioned compounds, as well as lithium perchlorate, are used in oxygen candles that supply submarines with oxygen. These can also include small amounts of boron, magnesium, aluminium, silicon, titanium, manganese, and iron.{{cite journal |last1=Markowitz |first1=M. M. |last2=Boryta |first2=D. A. |last3=Stewart |first3=Harvey |title=Lithium Perchlorate Oxygen Candle. Pyrochemical Source of Pure Oxygen |journal=Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Product Research and Development |volume=3 |issue=4 |year=1964 |pages=321–30 |doi=10.1021/i360012a016}}

Lithium fluoride, artificially grown as crystal, is clear and transparent and often used in specialist optics for IR, UV and VUV (vacuum UV) applications. It has one of the lowest refractive indices and the furthest transmission range in the deep UV of most common materials.{{Cite book |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=CQ5uKN_MN2gC |page=149}} |page=149 |title=Building Electro-Optical Systems: Making It All Work |author=Hobbs, Philip C. D. |publisher=John Wiley and Sons |date=2009 |isbn=978-0-470-40229-0 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160623202135/https://books.google.com/books?id=CQ5uKN_MN2gC&pg=PA149 |archive-date=23 June 2016}} Finely divided lithium fluoride powder has been used for thermoluminescent radiation dosimetry (TLD): when a sample of such is exposed to radiation, it accumulates crystal defects which, when heated, resolve via a release of bluish light whose intensity is proportional to the absorbed dose, thus allowing this to be quantified.{{Cite book |publisher=World Scientific |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=FY7s7pPSPtgC |page=819}} |title=Point Defects in Lithium Fluoride Films Induced by Gamma Irradiation |page=819 |series=Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Advanced Technology & Particle Physics: (ICATPP-7): Villa Olmo, Como, Italy |date=2002 |volume=2001 |isbn=978-981-238-180-4 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160606154252/https://books.google.com/books?id=FY7s7pPSPtgC&pg=PA819 |archive-date=6 June 2016}} Lithium fluoride is sometimes used in focal lenses of telescopes.{{Cite journal |last1=Sinton |first1=William M. |title=Infrared Spectroscopy of Planets and Stars |journal=Applied Optics |volume=1 |page=105 |date=1962 |doi=10.1364/AO.1.000105 |bibcode=1962ApOpt...1..105S |issue=2}}

The high non-linearity of lithium niobate also makes it useful in non-linear optics applications. It is used extensively in telecommunication products such as mobile phones and optical modulators, for such components as resonant crystals. Lithium applications are used in more than 60% of mobile phones.{{cite web |url=http://nl.computers.toshiba-europe.com/Contents/Toshiba_nl/NL/WHITEPAPER/files/TISBWhitepapertech.pdf |title=You've got the power: the evolution of batteries and the future of fuel cells |publisher=Toshiba |access-date=17 May 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717075300/http://nl.computers.toshiba-europe.com/Contents/Toshiba_nl/NL/WHITEPAPER/files/TISBWhitepapertech.pdf |archive-date=17 July 2011}}

Organolithium compounds are widely used in the production of polymer and fine-chemicals. In the polymer industry, which is the dominant consumer of these reagents, alkyl lithium compounds are catalysts/initiators{{cite web |url=http://chemical.ihs.com/CEH/Public/Reports/681.7000/ |title=Organometallics |work=IHS Chemicals |date=February 2012 |access-date=2 January 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120707175638/http://chemical.ihs.com/CEH/Public/Reports/681.7000/ |archive-date=7 July 2012 |url-status=live}} in anionic polymerization of unfunctionalized olefins.{{Cite journal |title=Polymerization of 1,2-dimethylenecyclobutane by organolithium initiators |journal=Russian Chemical Bulletin |volume=37 |date=2005 |doi=10.1007/BF00962487 |pages=1782–1784 |author=Yurkovetskii, A. V. |first2=V. L. |first3=K. L. |last2=Kofman |last3=Makovetskii |issue=9 |s2cid=94017312}}{{Cite journal |doi=10.1021/ma00159a001 |title=Functionalization of polymeric organolithium compounds. Amination of poly(styryl)lithium |date=1986 |author=Quirk, Roderic P. |journal=Macromolecules |volume=19 |pages=1291–1294 |first2=Pao Luo |last2=Cheng |bibcode=1986MaMol..19.1291Q |issue=5}}{{Cite book |title=Advances in organometallic chemistry |author=Stone, F. G. A. |author2=West, Robert |publisher=Academic Press |date=1980 |isbn=978-0-12-031118-7 |page=55 |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=_gai4kRfcMUC}} |access-date=6 November 2020 |archive-date=13 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313170549/https://books.google.com/books?id=_gai4kRfcMUC |url-status=live}} For the production of fine chemicals, organolithium compounds function as strong bases and as reagents for the formation of carbon-carbon bonds. Organolithium compounds are prepared from lithium metal and alkyl halides.{{Cite book |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=_SJ2upYN6DwC |page=192}} |page=192 |title=Synthetic approaches in organic chemistry |author=Bansal, Raj K. |date=1996 |publisher=Jones & Bartlett Learning |isbn=978-0-7637-0665-4 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160618033923/https://books.google.com/books?id=_SJ2upYN6DwC&pg=PA192 |archive-date=18 June 2016}}

Many other lithium compounds are used as reagents to prepare organic compounds. Some popular compounds include lithium aluminium hydride (LiAlH₄), lithium triethylborohydride, n-butyllithium and tert-butyllithium.

File:US Navy 040626-N-5319A-006 An Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) MK-50 Torpedo is launched from guided missile destroyer USS Bulkeley (DDG 84).jpg

Metallic lithium and its complex hydrides, such as lithium aluminium hydride (LiAlH₄), are used as high-energy additives to rocket propellants. LiAlH₄ can also be used by itself as a solid fuel.{{Cite web |title=An Experimental Investigation of a Lithium Aluminum Hydride–Hydrogen Peroxide Hybrid Rocket |url=http://media.armadilloaerospace.com/misc/LiAl-Hydride.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030628230627/http://media.armadilloaerospace.com/misc/LiAl-Hydride.pdf |archive-date=28 June 2003 |date=28 June 2003}}

The Mark 50 torpedo stored chemical energy propulsion system (SCEPS) uses a small tank of sulfur hexafluoride, which is sprayed over a block of solid lithium. The reaction generates heat, creating steam to propel the torpedo in a closed Rankine cycle.{{Cite journal |title=Stored Chemical Energy Propulsion System for Underwater Applications |author=Hughes, T.G. |author2=Smith, R.B. |author3=Kiely, D.H. |name-list-style=amp |journal=Journal of Energy |date=1983 |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=128–133 |doi=10.2514/3.62644 |bibcode=1983JEner...7..128H}}

Lithium hydride containing lithium-6 is used in thermonuclear weapons, where it serves as fuel for the fusion stage of the bomb.{{cite book |last=Emsley |first=John |title=Nature's Building Blocks |date=2011}}

Lithium-6 is valued as a source material for tritium production and as a neutron absorber in nuclear fusion. Natural lithium contains about 7.5% lithium-6 from which large amounts of lithium-6 have been produced by isotope separation for use in nuclear weapons.{{cite book |pages=59–60 |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=0oa1vikB3KwC |page=60}} |title=Nuclear Wastelands: A Global Guide to Nuclear Weapons Production and Its Health and Environmental Effects |author=Makhijani, Arjun |author2=Yih, Katherine |name-list-style=amp |publisher=MIT Press |date=2000 |isbn=978-0-262-63204-1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160613234841/https://books.google.com/books?id=0oa1vikB3KwC&pg=PA60 |archive-date=13 June 2016}} Lithium-7 gained interest for use in nuclear reactor coolants.{{cite book |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=iRI7Cx2D4e4C |page=278}} |page=278 |title=Nuclear wastes: technologies for separations and transmutation |publisher=National Academies Press |date=1996 |isbn=978-0-309-05226-9 |author=National Research Council (U.S.). Committee on Separations Technology and Transmutation Systems |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160613113140/https://books.google.com/books?id=iRI7Cx2D4e4C&pg=PA278 |archive-date=13 June 2016}}

File:Castle Bravo Blast.jpg nuclear device.]]

Lithium deuteride was the fusion fuel of choice in early versions of the hydrogen bomb. When bombarded by neutrons, both ⁶Li and ⁷Li produce tritium — this reaction, which was not fully understood when hydrogen bombs were first tested, was responsible for the runaway yield of the Castle Bravo nuclear test. Tritium fuses with deuterium in a fusion reaction that is relatively easy to achieve. Although details remain secret, lithium-6 deuteride apparently still plays a role in modern nuclear weapons as a fusion material.{{Cite book |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=yTIOAAAAQAAJ |page=39}} |page=39 |title=How nuclear weapons spread: nuclear-weapon proliferation in the 1990s |author=Barnaby, Frank |publisher=Routledge |date=1993 |isbn=978-0-415-07674-6 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160609210558/https://books.google.com/books?id=yTIOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA39 |archive-date=9 June 2016}}

Lithium fluoride, when highly enriched in the lithium-7 isotope, forms the basic constituent of the fluoride salt mixture LiF-BeF₂ used in liquid fluoride nuclear reactors. Lithium fluoride is exceptionally chemically stable and LiF-BeF₂ mixtures have low melting points. In addition, ⁷Li, Be, and F are among the few nuclides with low enough thermal neutron capture cross-sections not to poison the fission reactions inside a nuclear fission reactor.Beryllium and fluorine occur only as one isotope, ⁹Be and ¹⁹F respectively. These two, together with ⁷Li, as well as ²H, ¹¹B, ¹⁵N, ²⁰⁹Bi, and the stable isotopes of C, and O, are the only nuclides with low enough thermal neutron capture cross sections aside from actinides to serve as major constituents of a molten salt breeder reactor fuel.{{cite journal |last1=Baesjr |first1=C. |title=The chemistry and thermodynamics of molten salt reactor fuels |journal=Journal of Nuclear Materials |volume=51 |issue=1 |pages=149–162 |date=1974 |doi=10.1016/0022-3115(74)90124-X |bibcode=1974JNuM...51..149B |url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1028644/ |osti=4470742 |access-date=28 June 2019 |archive-date=13 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313170619/https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1028644/ |url-status=live}}

In conceptualized (hypothetical) nuclear fusion power plants, lithium will be used to produce tritium in magnetically confined reactors using deuterium and tritium as the fuel. Naturally occurring tritium is extremely rare and must be synthetically produced by surrounding the reacting plasma with a 'blanket' containing lithium, where neutrons from the deuterium-tritium reaction in the plasma will fission the lithium to produce more tritium:

:⁶Li + n → ⁴He + ³H.

Lithium is also used as a source for alpha particles, or helium nuclei. When ⁷Li is bombarded by accelerated protons ⁸Be is formed, which almost immediately undergoes fission to form two alpha particles. This feat, called "splitting the atom" at the time, was the first fully human-made nuclear reaction. It was produced by Cockroft and Walton in 1932.{{Cite book |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=XyOBx2R2CxEC |page=139}} |page=139 |title=Nobel Prize Winners in Physics |author=Agarwal, Arun |publisher=APH Publishing |date=2008 |isbn=978-81-7648-743-6 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160629143432/https://books.google.com/books?id=XyOBx2R2CxEC&pg=PA139 |archive-date=29 June 2016}}[http://www-outreach.phy.cam.ac.uk/camphy/cockcroftwalton/cockcroftwalton9_1.htm "'Splitting the Atom': Cockcroft and Walton, 1932: 9. Rays or Particles?"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120902195556/http://www-outreach.phy.cam.ac.uk/camphy/cockcroftwalton/cockcroftwalton9_1.htm |date=2 September 2012 }} Department of Physics, University of Cambridge Injection of lithium powders is used in fusion reactors to manipulate plasma-material interactions and dissipate energy in the hot thermo-nuclear fusion plasma boundary.{{Cite web |url=https://phys.org/news/2011-11-lithium.html |title=With lithium, more is definitely better |website=phys.org}}{{Cite web |url=https://phys.org/news/2021-11-hot-cores-cool-edges-fusion.html |title=Integrating hot cores and cool edges in fusion reactors |website=phys.org |access-date=23 April 2023 |archive-date=29 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230429103823/https://phys.org/news/2021-11-hot-cores-cool-edges-fusion.html |url-status=live}}

In 2013, the US Government Accountability Office said a shortage of lithium-7 critical to the operation of 65 out of 100 American nuclear reactors "places their ability to continue to provide electricity at some risk." The problem stems from the decline of US nuclear infrastructure. The equipment needed to separate lithium-6 from lithium-7 is mostly a cold war leftover. The US shut down most of this machinery in 1963, when it had a huge surplus of separated lithium, mostly consumed during the twentieth century. The report said it would take five years and $10 million to $12 million to reestablish the ability to separate lithium-6 from lithium-7.

Reactors that use lithium-7 heat water under high pressure and transfer heat through heat exchangers that are prone to corrosion. The reactors use lithium to counteract the corrosive effects of boric acid, which is added to the water to absorb excess neutrons.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/09/business/energy-environment/report-says-a-shortage-of-nuclear-fuel-looms.html |title=Report Says a Shortage of Nuclear Ingredient Looms |author=Wald, Matthew L. |date=8 October 2013 |work=The New York Times |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701025300/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/09/business/energy-environment/report-says-a-shortage-of-nuclear-fuel-looms.html |archive-date=1 July 2017}}

{{Main|Lithium (medication)}}

Lithium is useful in the treatment of bipolar disorder.{{cite book |last=Kean |first=Sam |title=The Disappearing Spoon |url=https://archive.org/details/disappearingspoo0000kean |url-access=registration |date=2011}} Lithium salts may also be helpful for related diagnoses, such as schizoaffective disorder and cyclic major depressive disorder. The active part of these salts is the lithium ion Li⁺. Lithium may increase the risk of developing Ebstein's cardiac anomaly in infants born to women who take lithium during the first trimester of pregnancy.{{cite journal |author=Yacobi S |author2=Ornoy A |title=Is lithium a real teratogen? What can we conclude from the prospective versus retrospective studies? A review |journal=Isr J Psychiatry Relat Sci |volume=45 |issue=2 |pages=95–106 |date=2008 |pmid=18982835}}

{{Chembox

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| NFPA_ref = [http://periodictable.com/Elements/003/data.html Technical data for Lithium] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150323072217/http://periodictable.com/Elements/003/data.html |date=23 March 2015 }}. periodictable.com

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Lithium metal is corrosive and requires special handling to avoid skin contact. Breathing lithium dust or lithium compounds (which are often alkaline) initially irritate the nose and throat, while higher exposure can cause a buildup of fluid in the lungs, leading to pulmonary edema. The metal itself is a handling hazard because contact with moisture produces the caustic lithium hydroxide. Lithium is safely stored in non-reactive compounds such as naphtha.{{Cite book |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=Oo3xAmmMlEwC |page=244}} |pages=244–246 |isbn=978-0-8493-2523-6 |author=Furr, A. K. |date=2000 |publisher=CRC Press |location=Boca Raton |title=CRC handbook of laboratory safety |access-date=6 November 2020 |archive-date=13 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313170605/https://books.google.com/books?id=Oo3xAmmMlEwC&pg=PA244 |url-status=live}}

• Cosmological lithium problem
• Dilithium
• Halo nucleus
• Isotopes of lithium
• List of countries by lithium production
• Lithia water
• Lithium–air battery
• Lithium burning
• Lithium compounds (category)
• Lithium-ion battery
• Lithium Tokamak Experiment

{{reflist | group=note |30em}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• [https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/industries/metals%20and%20mining/our%20insights/lithium%20and%20cobalt%20a%20tale%20of%20two%20commodities/lithium-and-cobalt-a-tale-of-two-commodities.pdf McKinsey review of 2018] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201116154340/https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/industries/metals%20and%20mining/our%20insights/lithium%20and%20cobalt%20a%20tale%20of%20two%20commodities/lithium-and-cobalt-a-tale-of-two-commodities.pdf |date=16 November 2020 }} (PDF)
• [http://www.periodicvideos.com/videos/003.htm Lithium] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160716081724/http://www.periodicvideos.com/videos/003.htm |date=16 July 2016 }} at The Periodic Table of Videos (University of Nottingham)
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090817001127/http://www.lithiumalliance.org/ International Lithium Alliance] (archived, August 2009)
• [http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/lithium/ USGS: Lithium Statistics and Information] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180729074829/http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/lithium/ |date=29 July 2018 }}
• [http://trugroup.com/whitepapers/TRU-Lithium-Outlook-2020.pdf Lithium Supply & Markets 2009 IM Conference 2009 Sustainable lithium supplies through 2020 in the face of sustainable market growth] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160604050036/http://trugroup.com/whitepapers/TRU-Lithium-Outlook-2020.pdf |date=4 June 2016 }}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080226213021/https://www.mcis.soton.ac.uk/Site_Files/pdf/nuclear_history/Working_Paper_No_5.pdf University of Southampton, Mountbatten Centre for International Studies, Nuclear History Working Paper No5.] (PDF) (archived February 26 February 2008)
• [https://investingnews.com/daily/resource-investing/battery-metals-investing/lithium-investing/lithium-reserves-country/ Lithium reserves by Country] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221020151212/https://investingnews.com/daily/resource-investing/battery-metals-investing/lithium-investing/lithium-reserves-country/ |date=20 October 2022 }} at investingnews.com

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Category:Chemical elements

Category:Alkali metals

Category:Reducing agents

Category:Chemical elements with body-centered cubic structure