Why in News?

According to a new study, Chile’s Atacama salt flat (flat expanses of ground covered with salt and other minerals) is sinking at a rate of 1 to 2 cm per year due to lithium brine extraction.

The process of extracting lithium from brine involves pumping salt-rich water to the top and through a sequence of evaporation ponds in order to recover lithium.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• What is Lithium Mining?
• Lithium Reserves and Mining in India
• Environmental Challenges Posed by Lithium Mining
• Fallouts of Lithium Mining in Chile

What is Lithium Mining?

• Lithium mining refers to the extraction of lithium primarily from brine water and hard-rock (spodumene) deposits.
• Brine extraction, which accounts for 66% of the total lithium production, involves pumping underground brine to the surface and allowing the water to evaporate, leaving behind lithium carbonate.
• Hard-rock mining involves extracting lithium-bearing minerals from rock through traditional mining techniques.
• Lithium production has dramatically increased over the past decade.
  • The global output surpassed 100,000 tonnes (tonne = metric ton) for the first time in 2021, a fourfold increase from 2010.
  • In 2022, global lithium mines produced an estimated 130,000 metric tons.

Lithium Reserves and Mining in India:

• The Geological Survey of India (GSI) had for the first time in India's history established Lithium inferred resources of 5.9 million tonnes in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district.
• Months after India's first lithium reserves, the GSI has found another reserve of the crucial mineral in Degana in Rajasthan's Nagaur district.
  • These reserves are believed to be much bigger in quantity (than found in J&K) and can meet 80% of the total country's demand.
• The Ministry of Mines successfully auctioned off India’s first lithium block in Chhattisgarh’s Korba district (Katghora region) recently.

Environmental Challenges Posed by Lithium Mining:

• Deplete water resources: Extracting one ton of lithium requires approximately 500,000 litres of water, which can deplete water resources in arid regions and impact local communities and ecosystems.
• Contaminate soil and water sources: The chemicals used in lithium extraction, such as sulfuric acid, can contaminate soil and water sources, posing risks to human health and wildlife.
• Carbon emissions:
  • Lithium mining, particularly from hard rock sources, is energy-intensive, requiring substantial electricity for crushing, grinding, and chemical separation processes.
  • This energy often comes from non-renewable sources, exacerbating carbon emissions and the carbon footprint of lithium production.

Fallouts of Lithium Mining in Chile:

• The research has shown that lithium mining (over the years) has had severe environmental fallouts, especially in countries such as Chile.
• The satellite data collected between 2020 and 2023 shows deformations in the Earth’s crust of Atacama salt flat - one of the largest sources of lithium in the world.
• The worst affected areas are those where mining companies are doing most of their pumping of lithium-rich brine.
• That is happening because the pumping takes place at a faster rate than the recharge of aquifers, leading to subsidence or the downward vertical movement of the Earth’s surface.