372 



UNITED STATES MINERAL RESOURCES 



or within a year or two thereafter, was probably 

 between 5,000 and 6,000 tons of lithium. 



Three mines furnished most of the world's lithium 

 during this period. One was the spodumene mine at 

 Kings Mountain, N. C. operated by the Foote Min- 

 eral Co., which processed its own ores. Another was 

 the spodumene mine of the Quebec Lithium Corp. at 

 Barraute, Quebec; its concentrates were processed 

 by the Lithium Corp. of America at Bessemer City, 

 N. C. The third was the mine of Bikita Minerals 

 (Pvt.), Ltd., at Bikita, Rhodesia; lepidolite concen- 

 trates from this mine were processed by American 

 Lithium Chemicals, Inc., at San Antonio, Tex. 



The rate of production dropped greatly in 1960, 

 when the last of Atomic Energy Commission con- 

 tracts expired, but it was stiU large by the stand- 

 ards of the years prior to 1953. The principal raw 

 material sources continued for several years to be 

 the same as in the 1950's, but the processing and 

 marketing patterns changed. 



Another milestone came in 1966 when production 

 began from Silver Peak and an accompanying price 

 reduction not only encouraged increased consump- 

 tion but also led the Quebec Lithium Corp. to with- 

 draw from the market. Luckenbach (1972, p. 115) 

 estimated that domestic consumption, expressed as 

 LiCOa, increased from 14,490,000 pounds (1,360 tons 

 Li) in 1966 to 20,000,000 pounds (1,880 tons Li) in 

 1970. Corresponding figures for the world were 

 20,790,000 pounds (1,950 tons Li) in 1966 and 

 32,500,000 pounds (3,050 tons Li) in 1970. Although 

 consumption diminished in 1971, the trend indicates 

 that the industry will in a few years pass the record 

 set in the 1950's. 



RESERVES AND RESOURCES 



Reserves of lithium have long been known to be 

 enormous relative to annual consumption, and with 

 the opening of the Silver Peak deposit the reported 

 reserve figures have become astronomic. Most of 

 the known supply and most of the consumption of 

 lithium are in the United States. There is little rea- 

 son to believe that the large size of reserves in the 

 United States means anything except that the search 

 for lithium has been most intense near home; the 

 rest of the world may be as well endowed with 

 lithium as the United States. It may seem surprising 

 that efforts have been expended to find much more 

 lithium than is likely to be used for many decades. 

 The explanation is not that efforts have been wasted 

 but that many lithium deposits are disproportion- 

 ately large relative to their market and have re- 

 sources that can be readily estimated from the data 

 acquired during exploration and development of 



even a small mine. 

 Table 73 shows total world resource figures in 



Table 73. — Lithium resources, in short tons 



1 Specific, identified mineral deposits that may or may not be evaluated 

 as to extent and grade, and whose contained minerals may or may not 

 be profitably recoverable with existing: technology and economic conditions. 



2 Identified deposits from which minerals can be extracted profitably 

 with existing technology and under present economic conditions. 



'' Specific, identified mineral deposits whose contained minerals are 

 not profitably recoverable with existing technology and economic condi- 

 tions. 



* Undiscovered mineral deposits, whether of recoverable or subeconomic 

 grade, that are geologically predictable as existing in known districts. 



^ Included in hypothetical resources. 



three categories: (1) proved and probable reserves, 



(2) possible reserves and conditional resources, and 



(3) hypothetical resources. All the proved and prob- 

 able reserves are backed by persuasive evidence that 

 they exist and that they can be mined profitably 

 under conditions prevailing now or in the recent 

 past. Possible reserves are included with conditional 

 resources because there is doubt about how to cate- 

 gorize many deposits. Many unexplored spodumene 

 deposits, for example, have a grade equal to that at 

 existing mines, and thus would ordinarily be re- 

 garded as having possible reserves; but because it 

 is questionable whether a new spodumene mine could 

 now be developed and operated profitably in compe- 

 tition with brines, these resources perhaps should 

 be downgraded to conditional. 



RESOURCES IN PEGMATITES 

 UNITED STATES 



Virtually all the domestic reserves of pegmatitic 

 lithium, and a very large part of the world's re- 

 serves, are at Kings Mountain, N. C. 



Kesler (1960, p. 525, and 1961, table 3) reported 

 that measured (equivalent to proved) reserves in 

 the main part of the Foote Mineral Co.'s deposit on 

 June 30, 1959, were 20,746,297 tons of ore carrying 

 1.53 percent LiaO, which amounts to 147,000 tons 

 of lithium. Additional reserves, but in the indicated 



