Filed under: Products and services, Industry, Mexico, Commodities
What is lithium? It is a soft, silver-white metal that is a good conductor of both heat and electricity. Because of these properties, lithium is used in the manufacture of lithium-ion batteries. Lithium batteries generate 3 volts of electricity, compared to 1.5 volts for lead/acid or zinc cells.
Lithium is used primarily in the manufacture of automobile batteries for hybrid automobiles. These cars are becoming more popular, with the major domestic and foreign car makers using lithium batteries. Hence, lithium has become a highly sought-after commodity.
Known deposits of lithium are found mainly in Chile, which has a base reserve of 7,520,000 metric tons, and Argentina, with a base reserve of 6,000,000 metric tons.
Now, the Mexican mining firm Piero Sutti SA de CV has discovered a lithium deposit that could produce 10,000 to 12,000 tons a year.
Company owner Martin Sutti states that deposits are in the northern says of Zacatecas and San Luis Potosi. He says that a pilot plant could be up and running by late 2010.
So now, Mexico can become a player in the growing and lucrative lithium market, along with Chile and Argentina.
Mexican mining firm finds a large lithium deposit originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 11 Oct 2009 13:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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