China’s Yunnan Province borders on Tibet, Vietnam, Laos, and Myanmar. It was on the eastern edge of the Himalayan uplift during the Middle Pleistocene period. The eastern part is a limestone plateau with un-navigable rivers running eastwards through deep gorges. The western region is mountainous with rivers running north and south. Therefore, we believe the five million more lithium tons are probably somewhere on the eastern plateau.
How Can We Be Sure There Are Five Million More?
The Institute of Geochemistry, under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, bases its estimate on a sample. They discovered roughly 340,000 tons of lithium oxide deposits in a test site of 2.75 square miles. Therefore, the total area holding five million more lithium tons could be approximately 40 square miles in extent.
To put matters in perspective, that’s half the surface area of Cincinnati, Cleveland, or Baton Rouge. This may further confirm the deposit lies somewhere on the eastern plateau, as opposed to among the western mountains. Whatever the case, this is a significant discovery in the light of the shift away from fossil fuel.
China Currently Has High Dependence on Lithium Imports
Demand for lithium has increased sharply with society’s expectations of longer lasting battery power for portable devices. Moreover, the increase in electric vehicles is adding more pressure according to China Daily.
The 340,000 tonnes of carbonate lithium ore lie in a two-to-sixteen meter deep bed within a giant basin-like depression. The vast nation has hitherto relied on imports to meet 80% of its lithium requirements. Therefore this discovery potentially curbs the nation’s reliance on imports of material for electric vehicle batteries.
That’s because five million more lithium tons in China represents 25% of the world’s largest lithium reserves in Bolivia. Hence this new discovery could be a significant game changer in the ‘lithium war’ between the east and west.
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Preview Image: Location of Yunnan Province in China
