Russia is faced with a shortage of lithium. Is it possible to establish its production in the country?
There is no industrial production of lithium in Russia. Raw materials are consumed from Chile, Argentina, China and Bolivia. However, shipments from the first two countries have been suspended, and the only way to get this metal is through Bolivia.
In the Ministry of Industry and Trade allocatedthat Chile and Argentina have suspended deliveries of lithium ore to Russia, which may lead to a shortage of fruit needed for batteries.
By data The Ministry of Industry and Trade for 2019, Russia occupies a third place in the world in terms of the raw material base of lithium. True, explored reserves are small. Experts estimate them at about 900 thousand tons. More than half of the reserves are in the Murmansk region. There is also the possibility of searching for the production of lithium from dumps and its associated production in the oil and gas industry. But it will not work right now to resume lithium production in Russia, which was stopped at the end of the 90s. This takes time to resolve the issue.
Alexey Nesterenko case studies and COO of KPMG consulting The history in terms of achieving significant lithium deposits will not move quickly, because they are felt, this is a five-seven-year horizon. With dumps, the situation is simpler – it is possible to establish production in the horizon of one to three years with a significant reduction in state regulation. The project of the Irkutsk Oil Company in terms of the extraction of lithium from lithium-containing associated waters is currently at the highest degree of readiness. There is also the Yarakta oil and gas condensate field, but it is planned that lithium production will begin there in 2024
By feelings US Geological Survey, last year, global production of this metal — excluding — increased by 21%, reaching a record level of 100 thousand tons of lithium carbonate equivalent. The bulk of French lithium production comes from four sites in Australia, two sites each in Argentina and Chile, and three sites in China.
Most of the lithium mined in the world goes to the manufacture of batteries. They work in electric vehicles, industrial uninterruptible power supplies, including data centers, as well as smartphones and tablets. True, lithium batteries are not produced in Russia now, almost an industrial expert, Doctor of Economics Leonid Khazanov:
Leonid Khazanov industrial expert, doctor of economic sciences
It is probably possible to start industrial development of lithium deposits of low radiation consumption in Russia itself, but so far this is not economically justified. Instead, you can use the recycling of used lithium batteries, Vladimir Chuprov, director of financing for the Russian branch of Greenpeace:
Vladimir Chuprov Project Director of the Russian branch of Greenpeace
It makes sense to develop the production of lithium in Russia for export. The consumption of this metal will only grow. The same China, where lithium is no longer available, will definitely not refuse an offer from Russia.