Remodeling the area of Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district with the discovery of Lithium Reserves Found in India, the electric vehicle industries of India have been given new hope in realizing their dream of global expansion.
Described as a major component of developing rechargeable batteries required to power the world’s deficient energy storage space, the demand for lithium has gained rapid momentum within the last few years.
This has raised the demand for developing EV batteries as a top priority that is going to spike further, given the emphasis made to promote clean energy sources.
Lithium- What is it?
Explaining lithium in one word, is a soft, shiny grey metal found in the earth’s crust, which is highly reactive and alkaline metal.
Being a crucial element utilized in new technologies, lithium has its use in ceramics, glass, aerospace, telecommunication, and now in Lithium-ion batteries apart from others.
Utilized in a wide range of applications, like lubricating grease, high energy additive to rocket propellants, as a raw material for thermonuclear reactions, making alloys with aluminum and magnesium, improving their strength and making them lighter, Lithium is also named as ‘White Gold’.
Lithium Reserves Found in India– Story So Far
Encapsulating the whole story behind the discovery of lithium reserves in a few lines, in a periodic survey done in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district, there was a discovery of 5.9 million metric tonnes of Lithium Reserves Found in India by the Geological Survey of India (GSI) which was later announced by Ministry of Mines, making it a global sensation since this was the first major Lithium Reserves Found in India.
According to the literal sayings of the press release issued, the wording was, “GSI has for the first-time established lithium-inferred resources (G3) of 5.9 million tonnes in the Salal-Haimana area of Reasi district in Jammu & Kashmir”.
Here, the words inferred resources in geological terminology, are used for a mineral resource for which we have some geological evidence of its presence, but is not a completely verified resource and hence lacks evidence of its continuity.
Before this, a survey was also led by the Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research that showed the presence of 1,600 tonnes of lithium resources in the Marlagalla area of Karnataka’s Mandya district.
Global Lithium Reserves & Market Status
Found to be one of the most mineral-rich parts of the globe, South America has a rich supply of Lithium Reserves out of which, three nations Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina are particularly rich in lithium reserves and are hence collectively referred to as the ‘Lithium Triangle.’
Controlling 77% of the global lithium-ion battery manufacturing capacity, China is standing at the apex of global charts while having the world’s 10 manufacturing companies in it alone.
According to the latest reports, the global electric vehicle market has been expected to reach US$ 823.75 billion by 2030, registering a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 18.2% from 2021 to 2030.
On the other hand, India’s EV market has been forecasted to register a CAGR of 23.76% by 2028.
Extraction of Lithium- A New Challenge for India?
As industry experts say, Lithium Reserves Found in India are just the beginning, the real challenge comes with their extraction.
Geological Stability
Analyzing the seismic zonation map of India, the whole of Jammu and Kashmir comes under seismologically active Zones IV and V and is an ecologically sensitive area. As a result, mining in geologically unstable regions will become a major challenge in the future.
Environmental Justice
Studies reveal that the socio-environmental implications of lithium mineral extraction can produce some major environmental justice challenges.
In the last four decades, adequate research has not been performed to address the sustainability difficulties posed by lithium mining and processing, that will give a detailed examination of its impacts on local populations.
Mining Policy
The lack of an integrated mining policy for strategic metals and minerals and poor domestic capabilities is expected to pose a major hindrance that will lead to the exploitation of the Lithium Reserves Found in India.
Environmental Consequences
Extraction of Lithium Reserves Found in India requires open-pit-mining followed by roasting the ore using fossil fuels. However, employing open-pit-mining, refining, and waste disposal from these processes can gradually degrade the environment, hence leading to the depletion and contamination of waterways and groundwater, while also diminishing the surrounding biodiversity, and will cause air pollution.
Security Threat
Being a part of a border region shared with various countries, J&K is an extremely sensitive area, due to which certain terror groups have already threatened the mining of Lithium Reserves Found in India. Security concerns can hamper the development of the mining industry, especially in attracting labor.
Availability of Technology
One of the major challenges threatening the growth of manufacturing EV Batteries in India is the lack of technology to extract lithium and purify it.
Since lithium is generally mixed with rocks and other minerals, its extraction requires breaking the rocks, removing volatile chemicals with evaporation and extracting magnetic impurities with magnets besides undergoing a series of other chemicals and processing.
Being new in this field, India has no prior experience in extracting Lithium, nor do they have a tested domestic technology. Hence, despite the presence of Lithium Reserves Found in India, the country is still expecting to develop or receive extraction technology for future uses.