{"id":14103,"date":"2020-09-17T13:59:55","date_gmt":"2020-09-17T20:59:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rustybolt.info\/wordpress\/?p=14103"},"modified":"2020-09-23T01:46:57","modified_gmt":"2020-09-23T08:46:57","slug":"2020-09-17-how-long-will-lithium-supplies-last","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rustybolt.info\/wordpress\/?p=14103","title":{"rendered":"2020-09-17 How Long Will Lithium Supplies Last?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This article paints a doom and gloom picture of the lithium supply. Lithium is the 25th most common element on earth. It&#8217;s not that rare. According to Wikipedia it&#8217;s as common as chlorine. It says the seawater has 230 BILLION tonnes. So the supply is not going to run out, it&#8217;s just going to get more expensive to extract from the ocean.  Elon Musk says there&#8217;s enough lithium just in Nevada to supply all the hundred plus million cars in the US.  In order to extract lithium from clay they just pour seawater through the clay.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/pv-magazine-usa.com\/2020\/09\/16\/how-long-will-the-lithium-supply-last\/\">https:\/\/pv-magazine-usa.com\/2020\/09\/16\/how-long-will-the-lithium-supply-last\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Quote from Wikipedia<\/p>\n<p>&lt;&lt;<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:0.5em0px1em; padding:0px; border:0px; font-style:normal; font-variant-ligatures:normal; font-variant-caps:normal; font-variant-numeric:inherit; font-variant-east-asian:inherit; font-weight:400; font-stretch:inherit; line-height:inherit; font-family:-apple-system,BlinkMacSystemFont,\" segoeuirobotolatohelveticaarialsans-serif=\"segoeuirobotolatohelveticaarialsans-serif\" _16px=\"font-size:_16px\" baseline=\"vertical-align:baseline\" nonergb255255255=\"background:nonergb255255255\" rgb323334=\"color:rgb323334\" normal=\"white-space:normal\" _2text-indent0px=\"orphans:_2text-indent0px\" none=\"text-transform:none\" _2=\"widows:_2\" _0px=\"_-webkit-text-stroke-width:_0px\" initial=\"text-decoration-color:initial\" left=\"text-align:left\">Although lithium is widely distributed on Earth, it does not naturally occur in elemental form due to its high reactivity.<sup class=\"reference\" id=\"cite_ref-krebs_4-5\" style=\"margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: normal; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.75em; vertical-align: super; background: none; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.m.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Lithium#cite_note-krebs-4\" style=\"margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161); text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;\">[4]<\/a><\/sup><span> <\/span>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),<sup class=\"reference\" id=\"cite_ref-47\" style=\"margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: normal; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.75em; vertical-align: super; background: none; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.m.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Lithium#cite_note-47\" style=\"margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161); text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;\">[47][48]<\/a><\/sup><span> <\/span>or 25<span> <\/span><a class=\"mw-redirect\" href=\"https:\/\/en.m.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Micromolar\" title=\"Micromolar\" style=\"margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161); text-decoration: none;\">micromolar<\/a>;<sup class=\"reference\" id=\"cite_ref-49\" style=\"margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: normal; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.75em; vertical-align: super; background: none; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.m.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Lithium#cite_note-49\" style=\"margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161); text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;\">[49]<\/a><\/sup><span> <\/span>higher concentrations approaching 7 ppm are found near<span> <\/span><a class=\"mw-redirect\" href=\"https:\/\/en.m.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hydrothermal_vents\" title=\"Hydrothermal vents\" style=\"margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161); text-decoration: none;\">hydrothermal vents<\/a>.<sup class=\"reference\" id=\"cite_ref-enc_48-1\" style=\"margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: normal; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.75em; vertical-align: super; background: none; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.m.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Lithium#cite_note-enc-48\" style=\"margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161); text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;\">[48]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:0.5em0px1em; padding:0px; border:0px; font-style:normal; font-variant-ligatures:normal; font-variant-caps:normal; font-variant-numeric:inherit; font-variant-east-asian:inherit; font-weight:400; font-stretch:inherit; line-height:inherit; font-family:-apple-system,BlinkMacSystemFont,\" segoeuirobotolatohelveticaarialsans-serif=\"segoeuirobotolatohelveticaarialsans-serif\" _16px=\"font-size:_16px\" baseline=\"vertical-align:baseline\" nonergb255255255=\"background:nonergb255255255\" rgb323334=\"color:rgb323334\" normal=\"white-space:normal\" _2text-indent0px=\"orphans:_2text-indent0px\" none=\"text-transform:none\" _2=\"widows:_2\" _0px=\"_-webkit-text-stroke-width:_0px\" initial=\"text-decoration-color:initial\" left=\"text-align:left\">Estimates for the Earth&#8217;s<span> <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.m.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Crust_(geology)\" title=\"Crust (geology)\" style=\"margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161); text-decoration: none;\">crustal<\/a><span> <\/span>content range from 20 to 70 ppm by weight.<sup class=\"reference\" id=\"cite_ref-kamienski_18-2\" style=\"margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: normal; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.75em; vertical-align: super; background: none; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.m.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Lithium#cite_note-kamienski-18\" style=\"margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161); text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;\">[18]<\/a><\/sup><span> <\/span>Lithium constitutes about 0.002 percent of Earth\u2019s crust.<sup class=\"reference\" id=\"cite_ref-50\" style=\"margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: normal; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.75em; vertical-align: super; background: none; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.m.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Lithium#cite_note-50\" style=\"margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161); text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;\">[50]<\/a><\/sup><span> <\/span>In keeping with its name, lithium forms a minor part of<span> <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.m.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Igneous_rock\" title=\"Igneous rock\" style=\"margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161); text-decoration: none;\">igneous rocks<\/a>, with the largest concentrations in<span> <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.m.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Granite\" title=\"Granite\" style=\"margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161); text-decoration: none;\">granites<\/a>. &#8230;<\/p>\n<p><span> <\/span>A newer source for lithium is<span> <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.m.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hectorite\" title=\"Hectorite\" style=\"margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161); text-decoration: none;\">hectorite<\/a><span> <\/span>clay, the only active development of which is through the Western Lithium Corporation in the United States.<sup class=\"reference\" id=\"cite_ref-53\" style=\"margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: normal; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.75em; vertical-align: super; background: none; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.m.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Lithium#cite_note-53\" style=\"margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161); text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;\">[53]<\/a><\/sup><span> <\/span>At 20 mg lithium per kg of Earth&#8217;s crust,<sup class=\"reference\" id=\"cite_ref-54\" style=\"margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: normal; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.75em; vertical-align: super; background: none; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.m.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Lithium#cite_note-54\" style=\"margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background: none; color: rgb(107, 75, 161); text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;\">[54]<\/a><\/sup><span> <\/span>lithium is the 25th most abundant element. &gt;&gt;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This article paints a doom and gloom picture of the lithium supply. Lithium is the 25th most common element on earth. It&#8217;s not that rare. According to Wikipedia it&#8217;s as common as chlorine. It says the seawater has 230 BILLION tonnes. So the supply is not going to run out, it&#8217;s just going to get<a href=\"https:\/\/rustybolt.info\/wordpress\/?p=14103\"> <\/p>\n<p> (Read More&#8230;)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[492,356,572],"tags":[573,575,574],"class_list":["post-14103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-environment","category-lithium","category-recycling","tag-lithium","tag-recycling","tag-supply"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rustybolt.info\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rustybolt.info\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rustybolt.info\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rustybolt.info\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rustybolt.info\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14103"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/rustybolt.info\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14103\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14128,"href":"https:\/\/rustybolt.info\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14103\/revisions\/14128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rustybolt.info\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rustybolt.info\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rustybolt.info\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}