information:extraction
Hard-rock deposits

Since 2018 the Democratic Republic of Congo is known to have the largest lithium spodumene hard-rock deposit in the world. The deposit located in Manono, DRC, may hold up to 1.5 billion tons of lithium spodumene hard-rock. The two largest pegmatites (known as the Carriere de l'Este Pegmatite and the Roche Dure Pegmatite) are each of similar size or larger than the famous Greenbushes Pegmatite in Western Australia. Thus, the Democratic Republic of Congo is expected to be a significant supplier of lithium to the world with its high grade and low impurities.

On 16 July 2018 2.5 million tonnes of high-grade lithium resources and 124 million pounds of uranium resources were found in the Falchani hard rock deposit in the region Puno, Peru. In 2020, Australia granted Major Project Status (MPS) to the Finniss Lithium Project for a strategically important lithium deposit: an estimated 3.45 million tonnes (Mt) of mineral resource at 1.4 percent lithium oxide. Operational mining began in 2022.

A deposit discovered in 2013 in Wyoming's Rock Springs Uplift is estimated to contain 228,000 tons. Additional deposits in the same formation were estimated to be as much as 18 million tons. Similarly in Nevada, the McDermitt Caldera hosts lithium-bearing volcanic muds that consist of the largest known deposits of lithium within the United States.

The Pampean Pegmatite Province in Argentina is known to have a total of at least 200,000 tons of spodumene with lithium oxide (Li O) grades varying between 5 and 8 wt %.

In Russia the largest lithium deposit Kolmozerskoye is located in Murmansk region. In 2023, Polar Lithium, a joint venture between Nornickel and Rosatom, has been granted the right to develop the deposit. The project aims to produce 45,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate and hydroxide per year and plans to reach full design capacity by 2030.