摘要: |
Lithium, one of the raw materials in various batteries, is the element powering the technological revolution over the past 30 years that has led to people having exponentially more electronic devices in their lives. According to Lopez et al. (2019), lithium prices have changed dramatically in the last 10 years. In 2012, the price for lithium was $9.50 per pound ($4.30/kg). At the end of January 2022, the price reached $110.23 per pound ($50/kg). Projected annual worldwide demand could reach 425,000 tons (386,000 tonnes) by 2025. The industrial process to mine lithium includes the evaporation of brine in large ponds covered by polyvinyl chloride (PVC) geomembranes (Figure 1), which engineers design to waterproof a site. In South America, construction crews build the ponds in salares (salt flats) where brine can be found underground. Once the infrastructure is built and the ponds are filled, it can take 12 to 24 months to obtain the first lot of lithium salt (Lopez et al. 2019). |