Recently, the geologists from India have for the first time discovered the 'lithium deposits' of 5.9 million tonnes in the Salal-Haimana area of Jammu and Kashmir.

• Presently, the resources are being referred as 'inferred resources' for the quantity, grade and mineral concentration have only been estimated with a low level of confidence. The information has been derived from locations such as trenches, pits, outcrops etc that may be associated with uncertain or low quality.
• It is based on the classification from United Nations International Framework Classification for Reserves/Resources - Solid Fuels and Mineral Commodities of 1997 (UNFC-1997). This framework has been developed by the UN Economic Commission for Europe.
• It helps in reporting and maintaining transparency along with consistency in the maintenance of mineral and energy assets. It also lends for an comparative analysis of resources that are found between different countries.

According to the UNFC-1997, there are four stages of exploration for any mineral deposit.

1. Reconnaissance
2. Preliminary Exploration
3. General Exploration
4. Detailed Exploration

What is Lithium?

Lithium or more popularly known as 'White Gold' for its high demand in rechargable items and enterprises. It is a soft and a silvery-white metal. It can be obtained by solar evaporation of large brine pools or from hard rock extraction of the ore, largely the lodes and consequent phenomena of weathering leading to a residual mass.

It is an important component of electrochemical cells. Also, used in thermo-nuclear reactions. Used to make alloys with magnesium and aluminium thereby improving the strength. Magnesium-lithium alloy for armour plating and aluminium-lithium alloy in aircraft and bicycles.

Leading Producers and Reserves of Lithium:

In India: Past surveys have estimated lithium presence in Southern Karnataka's Mandya district.

Other Potential Sites:

• Mica belts in Rajasthan, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh.
• Pegmatite belts in Odisha and Chhatisgarh.
• Rann of Kutch in Gujarat.

How is India fulfilling its demand for Lithium?

• India is not self-reliant here. It is dependent on imports for lithium cells.
• India has regularly been entering into agreements for sourcing lithium in order to reduce its dependency on China which is both the major source of raw material and cells.
• 2023 was considered as a great turning point for battery technology and India is perceived as a late entrant into the lithium value chain.

Significance of the New Discovery:

• India has vowed to reduce its emissions to net zero by 2070 and in that case, the availability of lithium can serve as an alternative.
• The Central Electricity Authority of India that the country will soon require battery storage systems to develop and for which lithium has become a necessity.
• The World Economic Forum also warned of global lithium shortages.
• Supply of lithium is strained because of limited base locations of lithium. Even the International Energy Agency predicted lithium shortages by 2025.

Discovery of lithium reserves is a signal for brightening renewable and clean energy fuels in India but at the same time, it should be coupled with judicious resource planning.

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References:

• drishtiias.com
• www.thehindu.com
• theprint.in
• pib.gov.in