How Australia became the world's greatest lithium supplier

Summary

Royce Kurmelovs writing for BBC Future makes the following points:

• Greenbushes WA mine is the largest lithium mine in the world.
• Australia mines lithium from hard rock; other countries obtain it from brine pits.
• China refines 60% of the world's lithium and 80% of the world's lithium hydroxide.
• The refining process is energy and chemically-intensive. 
• The environmental impacts of lithium hard rock mining are similar to other hard rock operations such as coal.

References

Recent Runway Posts related to this topic:

• How an accidental discovery made this year could change the world  | The Runway (airforce.gov.au)
• Australia's lithium miners powering the global electric vehicle charge | The Runway (airforce.gov.au)

References from the Web:

• JUN 2022 Australia charges ahead with new Lithium Technology-ANSTO
• AUG 2022 What Is Driving Lithium Prices In 2022 And Beyond? –Benchmark Mineral Intelligence

Source Information:   

• Article Source: Home - BBC Future
• Media Check: BBC -Media Bias/Fact Check (mediabiasfactcheck.com)     
• RAAF RUNWAY: RATIONALE, GUIDELINES, LEARNING OUTCOMES, ETC | The Runway (airforce.gov.au)