In the 21st century’s green economy, lithium is the new gold. It’s the key component for the batteries that power everything from acres of solar panels to fleets of sleek Mustang Mach-E’s.
Demand for lithium will only increase, but the supply remains limited. Half of all the world’s known reserves are located in landlocked Bolivia.
This culturally rich but politically unstable nation is one point of the so-called “lithium triangle,” which extends across Chile and Argentina. Together with Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni mine, Chile’s Salar de Atacama mine, and Argentina’s Salar de Arizaro mine, the region accounts for more than three-quarters of the world’s available supply. China, Australia and the Congo also contain significant deposits.
As an investor in promising mining operations across the globe, lithium has long been on my radar. My recent focus has been on lithium mines in Nevada and Argentina.
Lithium, of course, is essential to the production of lithium-ion batteries. As technological advances have made these batteries more efficient, safer and more compact, their use has moved beyond the first puttering Prius, circa 1997, to a broad array of electrical storage and generation uses.
Demand is not the only variable that is boosting the price of lithium and spurring worldwide exploration. Government mandates have been a significant factor, and will continue to stimulate production of electric vehicles and carbon-free electrical generation for decades to come.
In Nevada, resource extraction is focused on lithium brine assets and hard rock deposits in the Clayton Valley region. Given increasing instability in markets and political systems around the world, developing Nevada’s lithium resources is a security issue for North America.
As might be expected, mining within the United States requires extra attention to environmental considerations, and extra costs. Responsible and ethical mining practices that minimize environmental impacts are essential everywhere on the planet, and especially critical to success in North America. We have a responsibility to extract lithium in an environmentally conscious manner, working closely with all the local stakeholders to limit disruption to communities and the natural beauty of the land.
Just as necessity is the mother of invention, this moral responsibility is the mother of incredible technological innovation. Mining operations are learning to extract resources faster and more efficiently than ever before. From reducing water consumption to optimizing energy usage, mining companies are embracing the role of environmental stewards, conscientious corporate citizens.
As a believer in the promise of broad electrification initiatives, I recognize the importance of mining in a sustainable, minimally invasive way. There would be little point to producing millions of clean electric vehicles if building zero-carbon-emission cars required vast environmental degradation on the front end, or if each new mining operation substantially added to the demand for fossil fuels.
We need to apply all our talents and technological prowess to making mining as green as it can be, so that our green future may be as bright as we imagine it will be.
Aaron Wolfe Toronto 