India identifies two lithium and one copper mine in Argentina

India identifies two lithium and one copper mine in Argentina

Subject :Geography

Context:

• India has identified two lithium mines and one copper mine in Argentina for a possible acquisition or long-term lease. Commercial evaluation of the mines have begun.

About Lithium:

• It is a soft, silvery-white metal. Under standard conditions, it is the lightest metal and the lightest solid element.
• It is highly reactive and flammable, and must be stored in mineral oil. It is an alkali metal and a rare metal.
• Alkali Metals
  • The alkali metals consist of the chemical elements lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium, caesium, and francium. Together with hydrogen they constitute group 1, which lies in the s-block of the periodic table.
• Rare Metals
  • It include Niobium (Nb), Tantalum (Ta), Lithium (Li), Beryllium (Be), Cesium (Cs) etc. and Rare Earths (RE) include Lanthanum (La) to Lutetium (Lu) besides Scandium (Sc) and Yttrium (Y).
  • These metals are strategic in nature with wide application in the nuclear and other high tech industries such as electronics, telecommunication, information technology, space, defense etc.
• Key Characteristics and Properties:
  • It has the highest specific heat capacity of any solid element.
  • Lithium’s single balance electron allows it to be a good conductor of electricity.
  • It is flammable and can even explode when exposed to air and water.
• Applications:
  • Lithium is a key element for new technologies and finds its use in ceramics, glass, telecommunication and aerospace industries.
  • The well-known uses of Lithium are in Lithium ion batteries, lubricating grease, high energy additive to rocket propellants, optical modulators for mobile phones and as convertor to tritium used as a raw material for thermonuclear reactions i.e. fusion.

Extraction Method:

• Lithium can be extracted in different ways, depending on the type of the deposit .
• Solar evaporation of large brine pools.
• A brine pool is a volume of brine collected in a seafloor depression.
• For example: Brines of Sambhar and Pachpadra in Rajasthan.
• Hard-rock extraction of the ore (a metal-bearing mineral).
• For example: rock mining at Mandya.

Government Initiative:

• India, through a newly state-owned company KhanijBidesh India Ltd, had signed an agreement with an Argentinian firm to jointly prospect lithium in Argentina that has the third largest reserves of the metal in the world.
• KABIL, a joint venture formed through the participation of National Aluminium Company (Nalco), Hindustan Copper (HCL) and MECL, aims to ensure consistent supply of critical and strategic minerals in the domestic market.
• Also, the company has a specific mandate to acquire strategic mineral assets such as lithium and cobalt abroad.