Department of Natural Resources and Mines
Geological Survey of Queensland
Lithium opportunities in Queensland
October 2015
What is lithium?
Lithium (Li) is the lightest of all metals with an atomic number
of 3. It is an alkali metal together with elements such as Na
and K. It has a metallic lustre but only occurs in nature in
compounds.
The main sources of lithium are from pegmatites
(spodumene, petalite, amblygonite, lepidolite and
zinnwaldite), continental brines, geothermal brines, oilfield
brines and the clay mineral hectorite.
Is lithium considered ‘critical’?
Lithium is listed as critical by Geoscience Australia because
of its rapidly expanding use in battery technology. Although
lithium is not rare globally, rapid expansion in the demand for
lithium makes the development of new resources important
to maintain supply.
Photograph of lepidolite (mauve mineral) from Buchanans Creek/
Grants Gully area, Queensland.
Where is lithium found?
• Globally, lithium is not particularly rare.
How do we use lithium?
• A major application for lithium is for production of ceramics
and glasses, including heat-resistant glass and ceramics
such as those used in oven wear and cook tops. It is
also used in fluxes and glazes. Lithium is used in alloys
to increase strength-to-weight ratios, taking advantage
of lithium’s strength and light weight (low-density)
characteristics. Aluminium–lithium alloys, for example, are
used in the aerospace and motorsport industries.
• Lithium is used in the manufacture of computers,
communication devices and electronics, as well as medical
applications, lubricants, fuel cells and nuclear technology.
• Its use in lithium-ion batteries is seen as a growth area for
the coming years.
• New Scientist reports that lithium-ion batteries are critical
to the development of electric cars in order to make them
competitive with petrol engine vehicles. They predict an
increase in production of lithium carbonate (the compound
used in lithium-ion batteries) from 129,000 tonnes in
2011 to 499,000 tonnes in 2025 (the Tesla electric car
being developed in the US is predicted to require 40 kg
of lithium).
• Lithium is a light metal with abundant charge-carrying ions
for its weight making it ideal for charge storage in batteries.
• While new battery technologies are being developed,
they are unlikely to be commercially available in the short
term making lithium-ion batteries the most advanced
currently available.
• Low cost abundant lithium occurs in salt flats in Chile and
Bolivia (together they hold ~40% of the world’s known
lithium). Brines are also known from China and the USA.
Extraction of lithium from brines is in the form of lithium
chloride which then needs to be converted to lithium
carbonate for use in batteries—an energy intensive process.
• In Australia, lithium is mostly recovered from lithium
minerals, specifically the mineral spodumene
(Li2O.Al2O3.4SiO2), found mostly in several deposits
associated with pegmatites in Western Australia. The largest
is the Greenbushes deposit south of Perth.
• Recent technological advances have identified a process
for the low-cost extraction of lithium from the mineral
lepidolite, which occurs in pegmatites. This process
extracts the lithium as lithium carbonate which is used
directly in Li-ion batteries. Globally, the mineral lepidolite
has not been readily recorded making the resources of the
mineral uncertain.
Where is there potential for lithium resources in
Queensland?
• The mineral lepidolite has been known in Queensland for
some time but its distribution has been uncertain.
• Recently lepidolite has been the focus of exploration in the
Georgetown region in north Queensland.
• Significant quantities have been found at Buchanans
Creek and the adjacent Grants Gully south of Georgetown.
Exploration of this deposit is continuing and drilling to
define a resource is expected later this year.
• Minor lepidolite and zinnwaldite (another Li-bearing mica)
has been reported from Lord Nolan and Swipers Gully tin
deposits in the Stanthorpe area.
POWER TO THE PEOPLE, 2015: New Scientist, 227(3031), 21–24.
SKIRROW, R.G., HUSTON, D.L., MERNAGH, T.P., THORNE, J.P.,
DULFER, H. & SENIOR, A.B., 2013: Critical commodities for a
high-tech world: Australia’s potential to supply global demand.
Geoscience Australia Report.
• Lithium has been reported from the Bitumen and Cobree
prospects in a resedimented Tertiary sandstone in the
Broken River area in northeast Queensland
• Recently, lepidolite has been identified at Gingeralla west of
Mount Garnet south west of Cairns.
Further information
GSQ hotline
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: +61 7 3006 4666
Further reading
AUSTRALIAN MINES ATLAS: (http://www.australianminesatlas.
gov.au/aimr/commodity/lithium.html).
Geological Survey of Queensland
Level 12, 61 Mary St Brisbane Qld 4000
JELL, P.A. (Editor) 2013: Geology of Queensland. Geological Survey
of Queensland, Department of Natural Resources and Mines,
Brisbane.
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Lithium deposits in Queensland
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Produced by Publication Graphics SGS, Geological Survey of Queensland September 2014.
© State of Queensland (Department of Natural Resources and Mines) 2014.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/deed.en
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Produced by Spatial and Graphic Services, Geological Survey of Queensland
© The State of Queensland (Department of Natural Resources and Mines) 2015
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/deed.en
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