The Impact of Lithium Mining on Global Water Resources
* L’immagine di copertina di questo report è stata presa dal sito The News Hawks, consultabile al seguente link: https://thenewshawks.com/move-to-ban-raw-lithium-exports-amid-scramble/
Filippo Verre - February 14, 2024
One of the main future effects of the current climate crisis is the radical change in mobility that will involve millions of people in the coming years, at least in Europe. To limit the spread of carbon emissions, responsible for the dizzying increase in temperatures that has occurred in recent decades, European cities will experience a veritable invasion of cars, scooters and electric vehicles. Car travel alone is responsible for 12% of CO2 emissions at a continental level and will have to decrease by more than a third (37.5%) by 2030 to stay in line with the objectives established by the Paris Agreement. The member nations of the EU are investing huge resources to encourage the transition to electric mobility, and at the same time technological progress promises to lower costs and increase efficiency. In this respect, it is estimated that, in Europe alone, the number of electric vehicles will grow dramatically, from the current 2 million to 40 million by 2030.
Inevitably, to achieve what is about to be a real revolution in the transport sector, a new supply chain is already in an advanced stage of development. With the very prerequisites of the old production chain, focused on the influx of fossil fuels as the primary energy source of the internal combustion engine, no longer in place, the foundations have been laid for the spread of new approaches to travel that focus precisely on electric mobility for some years now. This inevitably involves new materials on which to invest and work to create the machines of the future. One of these materials is lithium, an essential mineral for the production of batteries for Electric Vehicles (EVs). The extraction, production and storage of this precious mineral involves significant economic and environmental costs, especially with regard to the huge water resources used in the various stages of its processing. According to some studies, we are talking about 1.8 million liters of water per ton of mineral. A truly remarkable figure.
This report will highlight some of the main contradictions regarding the exponential growth in demand for lithium in recent years. In particular, reference will be made to the high water consumption that is necessary to support the extraction and production of this important raw material. In this regard, reference will be made to the Chilean water crisis of 2021, exacerbated by the huge use of water to cope with lithium production. In fact, Chile, as we will see later, is one of the main producers of this mineral on the global scene.
A cheaper and decidedly more environmentally sustainable technique is the production of lithium through the recovery of brine, an industrial waste produced by desalination plants. The adoption of this method could constitute a great double advantage. On the one hand, there would be a sustainable and effective disposal of the brine, which is often poured into the sea once the process of separating the water from the saline component in the desalination phase is finished; on the other hand, lithium would be produced in large quantities without the need to waste large quantities of water.
The huge hydro-environmental costs of the mining industry: the case of lithium
The mining industry – in general and not only in reference to lithium extraction – involves truly significant water consumption and environmental impacts. Water is used for multiple purposes and is undoubtedly the element around which the intensive exploitation of mines revolves. In some cases, if the mining site is located near the sea or the ocean, mining companies are willing to invest copious resources in the construction of desalination plants to deal with frequent cases of water shortage. As is known, such plants have significant initial and maintenance costs; yet, given the centrality of water in almost all extraction processes, many investors are willing to take on considerable expenses in order to guarantee a safe water supply.
Specifically, as reported in a detailed study by Genesis Water Technologies, coal and mineral mining companies use water to cool equipment and remove dust, as well as to extract, wash and, in some cases, transport coal or minerals. Other mining companies use water to process minerals and recover precious metals from the ore. In addition to the many active uses of water in the various stages of extraction, another aspect must be considered. The water used in mining cannot be reused for other purposes, being unusable from a chemical and biological point of view. In fact, the so-called mining uses of water lead to serious mineral impurities, causing the accumulation of other solids in the liquid as a result of the activities of the mining companies. In essence, if the water used is not subjected to adequate purification treatments, it is no longer usable and, in fact, can pose a serious threat of harmful seepage into the aquifers.
As reported by the United States Geolocalical Survey (2019), mining wastewater usually has high levels of suspended solids and can also be incredibly acidic. Additionally, heavy metals, organic compounds, and metalloids such as iron, arsenic, and manganese are common in mining wastewater. Understandably, this makes mine water very hazardous to the environment in which mining operations occur. It is no coincidence that treating this metal- and pathogen-laden water has become critical to complying with increasingly stringent environmental regulations. These have made it nearly impossible for companies to reuse toxic mining effluents (or even return uncontaminated water to the environment). These regulations are essential for protecting forests, hills, plains, and any other areas adjacent to the mining site. For example, if significant rainfall were to occur in an area, it could lead to acid runoff from surface mines, mine drainage and slag heaps, polluting rivers, streams, lakes and, through percolation, even underground aquifers. In drier areas, the consequences would be equally devastating, if not even greater. The extraction and processing of minerals could poison aquifers, effectively compromising the already meager sources of supply that characterize desert areas.
In light of what has been analyzed, the so-called “lithium rush”, or the massive search for this material for the production of electric batteries, will only increase water stress in many regions of the world. As mentioned above, in fact, to produce a ton of lithium a disproportionate amount of water resources is needed. The latter, instead of being used for agricultural, irrigation and industrial purposes, are massively used for mining activities. This has a double disadvantage. On the one hand, it increases water consumption for mining activities, adding an important “item” in the water consumption column; on the other hand, it prevents water from being used for other purposes once it has been used in the mines, given that there are still very few mining companies equipped with water purification plants today. These are in fact expensive plants that use modern technology that is not easy to find. In addition to this, the aspect relating to the exponential increase in demand for lithium should be kept in mind. According to some studies, the latter, from 130,000 tons in 2022, will reach 500,000 tons by the end of the decade. These are truly remarkable figures, potentially capable of expanding water stress in an uncontrolled manner to meet new mining needs.
The Chilean water crisis of 2021
As analyzed above, water scarcity is an ever-growing problem for mining companies that, in areas already subject to water stress, degrade what is still available when they only source from fresh water sources. The case of Chile, in this respect, represents an emblem of how mining interests are difficult to reconcile with the use of water present in lakes and rivers. It should be emphasized that in this Andean country, together with Bolivia and Argentina, about half of the world's lithium reserves are found, equal to about 21 million tons. In what is called the Lithium Triangle, the mineral is obtained through a process of evaporation of underground brackish lakes. As reported in a study published in Orizzonti Politici, as regards extraction from rock deposits, the lithium mining industry is largely developed in Australia and China, where reserves are estimated to amount to 4.7 million and 1.5 million tons respectively.
Fig. 1: Triangolo del Litio
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/374279141_Green_Extractivism_in_Lithium_Triangle
China itself, which has long been engaged in a powerful ecological transition regarding internal mobility, is showing a strong interest in lithium management. It is no coincidence that Beijing is present with important infrastructure projects in South America. In this study published in AB AQUA recently, we highlighted how large amounts of capital and numerous Chinese engineers will be protagonists in the construction of an important water infrastructure in Argentina. In essence, Beijing's goal is to enter commercially and financially in various Andean nations in order to control the lithium supply chain. In the Argentine case, China is interested in using the resources coming from the Vaca Muerta plant. This is a very large deposit (36,000 km²) but little exploited due to the lack of infrastructure. Among the various materials, the Chinese leadership intends to use shale oil, graphite, silicon and, of course, lithium.
A similar situation occurs in Bolivia, where Chinese activities have been very intense for some years now. Due to the lack of adequate infrastructure for mineral exports, La Paz recently launched an invitation to private investors to submit development proposals for the exploitation of Bolivia’s abundant lithium. According to various sources, the contract was won by China’s CATL, a state-owned giant specializing in the production of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles. The exact conditions of the mining sites have not yet been made public; however, Beijing’s presence in the hottest mining sector of the moment signals China’s great activism in this part of the world.
Of course, Chile is also involved in what could be called a scramble for lithium. The large industrial group Tsingshan Holding Group, specializing in the stainless steel and nickel sector, has won the contract to build a CAM (cathode active materials) production plant in the Antofagasta region, located in the northern part of the Andean country. According to some studies, the Chinese company will commit approximately 233 million dollars in one of the most important investments in the lithium sector outside the national borders.
Chile has recently been the protagonist of a serious water crisis, caused, in part, also by the excessive exploitation of lithium to satisfy the rapidly growing demand. The reasons that have led to the progressive decrease of Chilean water resources over the last fifteen years are various. They range from the massive privatization of the water market, to the intensive cultivation of avocados, a fruit that requires abundant quantities of irrigation. In this regard, starting in 2006, or when the demand for avocados began to grow in a sustained and progressive manner, many companies have relocated production to Chile, contributing to increasing national water stress. The intensive production of this tropical fruit has literally dried up some areas of the Chilean territory such as, for example, that of the province of Petorca, located in the central part. Added to this is the increase in temperatures, which has led to frequent cases of prolonged drought in various areas of the Andean nation. In this regard, in 2020 the government declared a State of National Agricultural Emergency in six different regions, with medium and long-term forecasts that are not positive. According to some studies, in fact, it is expected that the water availability of Santiago alone, where half of the Chilean population lives, will drop by 40% by 2070.
The water crisis of 2021 has been so significant that entire hydrographic basins have dried up. This is the case, for example, of Lago Aculeo. Located not far from the capital Santiago, this lake has completely disappeared, a victim of drought and excessive use of water for purposes related to intensive tourism. With a surface area of 12 km² and a depth of 6 meters, the lake has been one of the main tourist attractions of the region for years where, given the presence of numerous hotels and campsites, tourists came to enjoy its waters for swimming and water sports. In the last ten years, as reported in this study, the water level has dropped until the basin has completely dried up. Unfortunately, the case of Lago Aculeo is not isolated. Linked precisely to the massive extraction of lithium, is the case of Salar de Atacama, a saline lake from which most of the precious mineral is extracted. According to this article, already in 2019 the president of the Antofagasta court had requested a feasibility study regarding the actual environmental sustainability of lithium extraction from that reservoir. To date, the lake is almost completely dried up, sacrificed on the altar of the lithium rush to satisfy an insatiable demand that finds one of the main suppliers in Chile.
The Chilean water crisis, in its dramatic nature, provides us with lessons that cannot be ignored. In light of today's difficult climatic conditions, water stress is destined to increase dramatically even in countries like Chile that should be better equipped than others to manage drought phenomena. The Andes mountain range, in fact, with its numerous glaciers and glacial rivers, should protect against, or at least alleviate, phenomena of water scarcity. The constant flow of glacial water downstream guarantees a stock of essential resources that, at least in theory, should be sufficient to meet the needs of a nation of just over 20 million inhabitants. Yet, Chile has been the protagonist of an environmental crisis caused by the lack of water. The factors, as we have quickly summarized, have been various. This is because, even without considering the water consumption intended for mining activities, the risk of incurring a supply crisis is very real. If this complex scenario is combined with the intensive extraction of lithium, with all the risks that this entails regarding the impossibility of reusing the water resources used during the extraction phases, the foundations are laid for a very plausible water crisis even in a country rich in resources like Chile.
Brine and lithium: the combination of the future?
As analyzed above, in recent years the growth in demand for lithium has been nothing short of powerful, driven by a political-environmental agenda focused on the spread of electric vehicles. However, to meet demand, water consumption for extraction activities is set to soar, thus leading to an increase in global water stress that is not exactly in line with a sustainable ecological approach. In light of this, it is clear that the intensive extraction of this material cannot be reconciled with a green strategic plan. The case of the 2021 Chilean water crisis demonstrates how precarious the environmental balance connected to lithium extraction is. What should be done, then, to continue the bold and epochal plan to spread electric mobility without incurring drought crises induced by mining companies? An interesting solution would be to favor desalination plants, possibly solar-powered. These plants, in addition to producing desalinated water that can be fed into the local water supply and thus alleviate water stress, generate an industrial waste – brine – that could be the solution to the problem related to water consumption in lithium extraction.
Numerous studies claim that the sea contains an enormous quantity of lithium, equal to about 5,000 times more than that found on land. It must be said that the concentration of this material in salt water is only 0.2 parts per million; however, the size of the seas and oceans of our planet suggests that, if extracted correctly, lithium is highly available, potentially almost inexhaustible. This method, in addition to being decidedly more sustainable from an environmental point of view, allows for a significant reduction in costs. In this regard, according to Lenntech, a Dutch design and consultancy company, lithium extraction from concentrated brine after the production of desalinated water costs 30% to 50% less than traditional mining. The Dutch are not the only ones who have taken an interest in this type of innovative technique. A study conducted by the Saudi university KAUST – King Abdullah University of Science and Technology – has illustrated a sustainable and cost-effective approach to ensuring the supply of lithium necessary to guarantee electricity in the future.
The fact that Saudi Arabia, through KAUST but not only, is at the forefront of the search for alternative methods for the production of lithium from brine is no coincidence. As reported in a study of ours some time ago, Riyadh is the world's leading producer of desalinated water. The Saline Water Conversion Corporation, a Saudi giant in the desalination sector, produces millions of m³ of water every day thanks to the numerous large plants present on its territory. These plants have allowed the Kingdom of Saud to count, over the years, on a huge amount of water coming from the sea. In addition to the desalinated resource, the Saudis produce a large amount of brine, as a result of intense desalination activities. Until a few years ago, this industrial waste represented a problem of not easy management for Saudi Arabia, forced to invest a lot of capital annually to get rid of it. The new uses deriving from Brine Lithium Extraction (BLE) – extraction of lithium from brine – represent a new economically very sustainable approach in which Riyadh understandably places a lot of faith.
Fig. 2: Logo della King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
https://www.kaust.edu.sa/en/
As reported in this article, KAUST scientists already developed a system to obtain lithium from sea water a few years ago, experimenting with it in the Red Sea. To extract it, they used an electrochemical cell containing a ceramic membrane with holes large enough to let the lithium pass through but narrow enough to prevent the filtering of larger metal ions, such as potassium, magnesium and sodium, present in the sea, which could make the lithium less pure. This system, in addition to allowing lithium to be obtained with a high level of purity, makes the process economically convenient. According to researchers, thanks to this method it is possible to obtain 1 kg of lithium at a cost of around 5 dollars for the electricity needed to power the extraction process itself. The next challenge will be to optimize the production costs of the membrane itself, which can then be produced on a large scale, allowing more and more lithium to be extracted at increasingly affordable costs.
It should be emphasized that the exploitation of brine is a fairly widespread method for the production of lithium. In this regard, consider the Chilean or Bolivian method, in which techniques based on the evaporation of brine in open ponds taken from highly saline basins are used to extract lithium. This is the case, for example, of the aforementioned Chilean lake Salar de Atacama, today almost completely dried up, as described above. However, as Lennetch pointed out, these techniques are very slow – evaporation of the ponds to the desired level can take up to 24 months – and highly dependent on the meteorological conditions of the region, which can vary throughout the year. The innovative aspect of the approach pursued by KAGUS – and also by other companies – is the production of brine in industrial quantities from which to extract lithium without waiting for the natural course of events. In this respect, advanced technologies based on adsorption and extraction with solvents and membranes are being developed in the laboratory and on a commercial scale. This new technique, in addition to being more environmentally sustainable, can potentially increase both the economic profitability of extracting minerals from seawater and guarantee a reliable lithium stock regardless of weather conditions.
Fig. 3: Simulazione schematica del processo di evaporazione della salamoia per il recupero del litio
https://www.lenntech.it/processes/lithium-recovery.htm
Conclusions
The massive spread of electric vehicles that will occur in the coming years will mean that lithium will become – if it hasn’t already become – one of the most sought-after minerals in the world. This factor, as described in this report and as represented by the Chilean case, will only subject countless human communities living near mining sites to further water stress. It is therefore urgent to find a technological and sustainable solution capable of continuing the extraction and production of lithium without compromising the hydro-environmental stability of entire regions.
In light of what has been analyzed, the lithium-brine combination could increasingly consolidate in the future to offer a production technique for the precious material that is economically and environmentally sound. The combined effect of cost containment and the preservation of water resources will encourage companies and laboratories to invest a lot of resources to perfect this new model in lithium research. The goal for the next few years is to prevent the search for this material, so indispensable not only for electric vehicles but also for all devices that involve the use of batteries, from constituting a risk for the already precarious water tightness of many nations.
From a hydro-strategic perspective, the extraction of lithium from brine could offer a series of significant advantages. First of all, the reuse of this industrial waste resulting from the desalination process. Often, not knowing how to manage the brine and not wanting to pay the huge costs to get rid of it legally, many companies specialized in the construction of desalination plants prefer to throw the hyper-saline waste into the sea. This involves a certain containment of costs but also incalculable environmental damage for both the flora and the marine fauna where the brine is released. On the other hand, if it can be reused to produce a mineral that is highly sought after on the market, companies will automatically be encouraged to make more sustainable use of it. Not so much for environmental purposes but, cynically, to make further profits from the sale of lithium produced by the exploitation of brine.
Furthermore, the possibility of also using industrial waste from the desalination process could encourage the proliferation of such plants even in countries – such as Italy – traditionally not inclined to adopt this technology. In this regard, the management of brine is one of the main environmental issues raised by those who are against desalination, in addition to the high consumption of fossil fuels to power a plant. As regards this last profile, there are companies on the market that build desalination plants powered by solar energy with excellent energy yields. With regard to the management of brine, as highlighted above, the new use represented by the production of lithium could allow a valid and economic recovery of an industrial waste whose presence has long constituted an environmental problem that is not easy to solve.
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