2019 – Posted in: Daily News – Tags: Argentina, Bolivia, chile, KABIL, lithium

‘LITHIUM TRIANGLE’ COUNTRIES

For: Preliminary & Mains
Topics covered: Lithium, India’s growing demand, Uses, Cooperation from Lithium nations

News Flash

NITI Aayog to visit Lithium Triangle nations in South America.

A high-level delegation from Niti Ayog is expected to visit the ‘Lithium Triangle’ countries including Chile and Bolivia.
The Niti Ayog delegation’s visit to the Lithium Triangle countries is a follow up visit of the KABIL (Khanij Bidesh India Ltd).

What

Three government owned companies – National Aluminum Company (NALCO), Hindustan Copper (HCL) and Mineral Exploration Corp Ltd. (MECL) form the consortium and together they had had visited Argentina, Bolivia and Chile between February-March in an effort to identify opportunities for Lithium exploration.

India’s need for Lithium

The requirement of this strategic mineral is important for India as it is in the midst of setting-up large lithium-ion battery plants, to achieve all-electric vehicles by 2030.
The country also needs these Lithium batteries for solar panels as well as to meeting the growing need in the Space sector. And to meet India’s ambitions of achieving energy security.
Presently, 100% of Li-ion batteries or cells are imported in India, as these which have a high energy density are in huge demand for portable electronic devices, solar power plants as well as electric vehicles.

Argentina

At the end of talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Argentina President Mauricio Marci, Argentina has agreed to extend full cooperation in sharing the geological information for Lithium exploration available with their mining agencies.

Bolivia

The landlocked country Bolivia is seeking Indian investments to develop its Lithium deposits, which account for 60% of the world’s reserves.
President Ramnath Kovind and Bolivian President Evo Morales had talked about three critical aspects of Lithium. This included exploration, assured supplies of Lithium Carbide and a joint venture for Lithium battery production plants in India.

Chile

Several Indian companies including a Chennai based company Munoth Industries Limited (MIL) is in the process of setting-up the India’s first Lithium Batteries cell for Mobile phone.
Also, in the automobile sector, Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC) has tied up with Toshiba and Denso has decided to set up the India’s first lithium-ion battery manufacturing facility in Gujarat.
Mahindra & Mahindra has forged an alliance with South Korea’s LG Chem to make lithium-ion batteries in India.

Khanij Bidesh India Ltd. (KABIL)

From the perspective of India’s investments for minerals abroad – three Indian Government owned mining sector enterprises have come together to form Khanij Bidesh India Ltd (KABIL) under the directive of Ministry of Mines.

The focus is to seek strategic minerals overseas and to facilitate the process of acquisition, development and processing the same.

Lithium

Lithium is a chemical element with symbol Li and atomic number 3.
It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal.
It gets its name from “lithos,” the Greek word for stone, because it is present in trace amounts in virtually all rocks.
Under standard conditions, it is the lightest metal and the lightest solid element.
Lithium is highly reactive and flammable, and is stored in mineral oil.
When cut, it exhibits a metallic luster, but moist air corrodes it quickly to a dull silvery gray, then black tarnish.
It never occurs freely in nature, but only in (usually ionic) compounds, such as pegmatitic minerals, which were once the main source of lithium.
Due to its solubility as an ion, it is present in ocean water and is commonly obtained from brines.
Lithium metal is isolated electrolytically from a mixture of lithium chloride and potassium chloride.
Lithium and its compounds have several industrial applications, including heat-resistant glass and ceramics, lithium grease lubricants, flux additives for iron, steel and aluminium production, lithium batteries, and lithium-ion batteries.
It works with other elements, drugs, enzymes, hormones, vitamins, and growth factors in the body in many different ways. People use it for medicine.
Lithium salts have proven to be useful as a mood-stabilizing drug in the treatment of bipolar disorder in humans.

Source: Financial Express

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