COAL INDIA AGREEMENT WITH CHILE FOR LITHIUM

COAL INDIA AGREEMENT WITH CHILE FOR LITHIUM

LITHIUM IN CHILE & ARGENTINA

• The Ministry of Mines, Government of India has entered into a draft exploration and development agreement with Argentina miner CAMYEN for possible acquisition and development of five odd lithium blocks.
•  The company has also entered into a non-disclosure agreement with Chilean miner ENAMI for “possible exploration, extraction, processing and commercialisation” of the mineral.

What is Lithium?

• Lithium is an alkali mineral, also called ‘white gold’. It is soft, silverywhite metal, the lightest metal of the periodic table.
• High Reactivity
• Low Density
• Lithium is found naturally in various minerals, including spodumene, petalite, and lepidolite.

Production of Lithium

• The top producers of lithium are Australia, Chile, China, and Argentina.
• In 2022, Australia was the world leader in terms of lithium mine production. Chile and China ranked second and third.
• Recently, a massive lithium deposit beneath California’s Salton Sea (US), holding an estimated 18 million tons of lithium, was discovered.

Extraction of Lithium?

• Lithium can be extracted in different ways, depending on the type of the deposit — generally either through solar evaporation of large brine pools, or from hard-rock extraction of the ore.
• It is extracted from these minerals and refined into lithium metal or its compounds.

Uses of Lithium

• Lithium is an important component of electrochemical cells used in batteries of EVs, Laptops, Mobiles etc.
• It is also used in thermonuclear reactions.
• It is used to make alloys with aluminium and magnesium, improving their strength and making them lighter.
  • Magnesium-lithium alloy - for armour plating.
  • Aluminum-lithium alloys - in aircraft, bicycle frames and high-speed trains.

Significance of Lithium?

Assistance in Achieving Targets:

• • India is aiming to reduce its emissions towards net zero by 2070, which requires the availability of lithium as a critical component in electric vehicle (EV) batteries.
  • The Central Electricity Authority of India has estimated that the country will need 27 GW of grid-scale battery energy storage systems by 2030, which will require massive amounts of lithium.

Addressing Global Shortages:

• • The World Economy Forum (WEF) has warned of global lithium shortages due to rising demand for EVs and rechargeable batteries, which is estimated to reach 2 billion by 2050.
  • The global supply of lithium is under strain due to the concentration of resources in a few locations with 54% of the world's Lithium reserves are found in Argentina, Bolivia and Chile.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has estimated that the world can in the coming future face lithium shortages by 2025.

India’s outlook on Lithium?

• India is currently dependent on imports for lithium cells and batteries.
• The country's efforts to secure lithium sourcing agreements are seen as a move against imports from China, which is the major source of both raw materials and cells.
• India is countered as a late entrant into the lithium value chain, entering at a time when the Electronic Vehicle sector is expected to undergo significant disruption.

2023 is considered a turning point for battery technology, with the potential for several improvements to the Li-ion technology.

LITHIUM IN INDIA

• Massive reserves unearthed in Salal-Haimna areas of Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir (estimated 5.9 million tonnes).
• Additional reserves identified in Koderma and Giridih regions of Jharkhand
• India has put up lithium blocks for auction: one in J&K and another in Chhattisgarh

Its domestic requirements, across categories like EVs, lithium-ion battery making, and other energy storage solutions, being met completely through imports. Import bill is pegged at around ₹24,000 crore.