Overview of China's Lithium Industry   

Lithium (Li) is the lightest metallic element in nature and has many applications in lithium-ion batteries, aerospace, nuclear fusion power generation and other areas. In recent years, lithium has increasingly attracted the world's attention due to its prominent strategic significance. Now, China's lithium industry is developing rapidly.

1. Characteristics of lithium resources in China

In nature, lithium mainly exists in spodumene, lepidolite and brine. China is rich in lithium resources. Its proven lithium reserve is about 540 000 tons (pure lithium), accounting for 12% of the world total. China's lithium resources mainly have the following characteristics:
    (1) Deposits of lithium-bearing minerals and brine are very concentrated geographically. In China, spodumene is mainly distributed in Xinjiang region's Keketuohai and Altai areas and Sichuan province's Kangding area; lepidolite is mainly distributed in Jiangxi province's Yichun area; and brine lithium resources are mainly distributed in salt lakes in Qinghai province and Tibet, especially in salt lakes in Qaidam Basin in Qinghai.
    (2) Brine lithium resources have a predominant position in industry. Worldwide, brine lithium resources account for about one third of the total lithium resources in nature. But in China, this proportion reaches as high as 79%, so brine lithium resources are an important source of the country's lithium resources.
    (3) There are many other associated elements in the brine. Although there is a wealth of lithium itself in the brine, a number of other associated elements are also in the brine, such as boron, potassium, magnesium and sodium. Especially, the presence of magnesium can increase the difficulty of extracting lithium from the brine.

2. Framework of the lithium industry

After lithium resources are exploited, they will undergo a series of processing steps and be turned into lithium products, which can be divided into primary products and deep-processed products. Common primary lithium products include lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide, and lithium chloride; and common deep-processed products include lithium metal, lithium alloys, lithium bromide, lithium fluoride, high-purity lithium carbonate, lithium cobalt oxide, lithium manganese oxide, lithium sulfate, etc. And major consumer areas of the lithium products include lithium-ion batteries, metal smelting, aerospace, glass, ceramics, pharmaceuticals and lubrication for cooling equipment. The exploitation of lithium resources, the processing of the lithium resources into primary products and deep-processed products, as well as the consumers areas, together constitute the basic framework of the lithium industry.

3. Exploitation of lithium resources

In nature, lithium mainly exists in lithium-bearing ores and brine. Therefore, there are two ways to exploit lithium resources: extraction from lithium ores and extraction from brine.
    (1) Extracting lithium from lithium ores. Lithium ores are first treated with sulfuric acid or sintered with sulfate salt or lime. The resultant is then dissolved in water and filtered to remove the residue. The filtered solution is then turned into the required products by adding precipitating agents into the solution. Take spodumene for example. After spodumene ore is mined, it is first turned into lithium concentrate through milling and flotation. The lithium concentrate then reacts with sulfuric acid at 250℃ to form lithium sulfate, which is then dissolved in water and filtered. Sodium bicarbonate is added into the filtered solution to form insoluble lithium carbonate. After filtration, primary product lithium carbonate can be obtained.
    (2) Common techniques to extract lithium from brine include precipitation, calcination extraction, solvent extraction, ion exchange (adsorption) and salting-out. Among these, precipitation and calcination extraction have been industrialized, and solvent extraction and ion exchange methods are still in the research stage.
   As brine lithium resources are more abundant and have a lower exploitation cost than lithium ores, extracting lithium from brine has become a trend for the exploitation of lithium resources. In general, the magnesium vs. lithium ratio (Mg/Li ratio) in the brine determines the feasibility of producing lithium salts from any particular brine source as well as the production costs and economic benefits of the lithium salts. In other countries, more than 80% of lithium produced is sourced from brine. But in China, due to the high Mg/Li ratio in domestic brines, no very effective extraction technology has been developed yet. Therefore, lithium ores are still an important source to get lithium products.

4. Primary lithium products

After lithium resources are exploited, they can be processed into lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide, lithium chloride and other primary products, which can be further processed into lithium metal, lithium fluoride, lithium cobalt oxide, lithium grease and other deep-processed products.

(1) Lithium carbonate

Lithium carbonate is the most important basic product of the lithium industry. Common lithium carbonate is obtained by the simple processing of natural lithium resources. With deep-processing, it can be turned into lithium fluoride, lithium metal, lithium chloride, lithium bromide and high purity lithium carbonate and plays an important role in batteries, nuclear reactors, aerospace and other areas. With the recent rapid growth in the demand for lithium carbonate, especially with the fast development of electric vehicles, China's lithium carbonate output in the past three years has constantly increased. It was about 18 000 tons in 2007, about 20 000 tons in 2008 and about 22 000 tons in 2009. In 2010, it was about 23 000 tons, accounting for about 25% of the global total. Major lithium carbonate producers in China in 2010 are listed in table 1.

Table 1 Major lithium carbonate producers in China in 2010
Manufacturer    Capacity (t/a)    Output (tons)    Raw material    Remarks
Sichuan Tianqi Lithium Industries Co Ltd    2500t/a battery grade lithium carbonate, 3000 t/a industrial grade lithium carbonate,    1500 t/a lithium chloride, 1500 t/a lithium hydroxide and 600 t/a high purity    lithium carbonate 5739    Spodumene    Plan to expand lithium carbonate capacity to 15 600 t/a
Qinghai CITIC Guoan Technology Development Co Ltd    20 000    5000    Brine from the Jinair Salt Lake in Xitai, Qinghai province    Plan to expand lithium carbonate capacity to 35 000 t/a
Tibet Mineral Development Co Ltd    5000    2294    Brine from Zabuye Salt Lake in Tibet    After the first-phase Zabuye Salt Lake technical transformation project is completed, the company's lithium carbonate capacity will increase from 5 000 t/a to 8 628 t/a.
Xinjiang Haoxin Lithium Salt Development Co Ltd    5000    4000    Spodumene     Formerly the Xinjiang Lithium Salt Plant
Jiangxi Ganfeng Lithium Industrial Co Ltd     2500    1750    Lepidolite and salt lake brine
Qinghai Lithium Industry Co Ltd     About 2000    1000    Brine from the Jinair Salt Lake in Dongtai, Qinghai province
Si