From the new "Mineral Commodity Summaries":
LITHIUM
U.S. Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries, January 2023
Six mineral operations in Australia, one mineral tailings operation in Brazil, two brine operations each in Argentina and Chile, and three mineral and two brine operations in China accounted for the majority of world lithium production. Additionally, smaller operations in Brazil, Canada, China, Portugal, the United States, and Zimbabwe also contributed to world lithium production. Owing to the rapid increase in demand and prices of lithium in 2022, established lithium operations worldwide increased or were in the process of increasing production capacity.
The U.S. Department of Energy selected 12 lithium-based projects funded with $1.6 billion from the 2022 U.S. Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to support new commercial-scale domestic facilities to extract and process lithium, manufacture battery components, recycle batteries, and develop new technologies to increase U.S. lithium reserves. Lithium supply security has become a top priority for technology companies in Asia, Europe, and North America.
Strategic alliances and joint ventures among technology companies and exploration companies continued to be established to ensure a reliable, diversified supply of lithium for battery suppliers and vehicle manufacturers. Brine- based lithium sources were in various stages of development or exploration in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, China, and the United States; mineral-based lithium sources were in various stages of development or exploration in Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, Congo (Kinshasa), Czechia, Ethiopia, Finland, Germany, Ghana, Kazakhstan, Mali, Namibia, Nigeria, Peru, Portugal, Russia, Serbia, Spain, Thailand, the United States, and Zimbabwe; lithium-clay sources were in various stages of development or exploration in Mexico and the United States.
World Mine Production and Reserves: Reserves for Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, the United States, Zimbabwe, and “Other countries” were revised based on information from company and Government reports....
....MUCH MORE (2 page PDF)
