Context: 

• The Geological Survey of India established 5.9 million tonnes of inferred lithium resources in the Salal-Haimana area of Reasi District in Jammu and Kashmir.

Characteristics of Lithium:

• This gray, shiny, non-ferrous metal is the lightest and the least dense of all metals. 
• Being the third element in the periodic table after gases hydrogen and helium, the alkali metal lithium is highly reactive.

Other Potential Sites in India:

• The major mica belts in Rajasthan, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh.
• Pegmatite (igneous rocks) belts in Odisha and Chhattisgarh.
• Brines of Sambhar and Pachpadra in Rajasthan, and Rann of Kachchh in Gujarat.

Related Government Initiatives:

• India, through a newly state-owned company Khanij Bidesh India Ltd, had signed an agreement with an Argentinian firm to jointly prospect lithium in Argentina.
• Khanij Bidesh India Ltd has a specific mandate to acquire strategic mineral assets such as lithium and cobalt abroad.

Significance of Lithium:

• In 2019, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was given to John B. Goodenough, M. Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino for their contributions to the development of the lithium-ion battery. 

Uses:

• Lithium is used in electric car batteries because of its properties— lightness and energy density.
• While lithium is also used in ceramics, in industrial grease, and in the pharmaceutical sector, its potential demand is expected to be largely driven by batteries. 

Status in the World:

• Currently, India is import-dependent for many minerals like lithium, nickel and cobalt.
• Most of the lithium reserves are concentrated in South America; especially in countries such as Argentina, Chile and Bolivia. These three countries are called the Lithium Triangle and are concentrated in various salt pans present in the Atacama desert and neighboring arid regions.
• Multiple countries have ramped up efforts to find reserves of lithium, sometimes dubbed ‘white gold’, in what has been called the “new era gold rush”.The demand for lithium is expected to reach three million to four million MT in 2030.

Significance:

• Employment Generation 
• Import & self sufficiency 
• Strength given India’s National Mission on Transformative and Battery Storage as well.

Concerns:

• Geopolitical: Although Reasi is in the relatively more stable Jammu region, the Union territory of J&K has been the site of historical cross-border tensions between India and Pakistan, domestic insurgency, and terrorism. 
• Environmental: Industry estimates suggest that this process consumes 170 cubic meters of water and releases 15 tonnes of CO2 for every tonne of Li extracted.
• The Geographically Unstable Region of Himalayas for exploration is a big concern, as it can cause natural disasters.

Way Ahead:

• Though, a happy moment of all but don’t forget the environmental consequences of exploration in geographically unstable regions. 
• Steps should be taken by undertaking the needs to address energy poverty and sustainable development. 

News Source: The Indian Express

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