The Geological Survey of India, which also evaluates India's mineral resources, discovered 5.9 million tonnes of lithium resources - a first for the nation - in the Salal-Haimana region of Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district, according to a report released on February 9 by the Indian Ministry of Mines.
Since then, the discovery has been hailed as a game-changer for India's green economy, but is it too soon to declare that it actually is one?
Why is the discovery important for India?
In today's world, lithium is one of the most crucial metals. Among other things, it's used to construct essential batteries for electric vehicles. If India had its own lithium reserves, it would no longer rely as heavily on imports as it does now to meet its needs. India imported lithium and lithium ions worth a total of Rs 173 crore and Rs 8,811 crore in 2020–21. Given the push for electric vehicles, India's needs for lithium are also probably going to increase.
Speaking to BOOM, Rishabh Jain, Senior Programme Lead, Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), elaborated on its importance. "Lithium-ion battery demand will grow exponentially in the power and transport sectors, globally. In 2022, 85% of the current production of lithium minerals came from Australia, Chile, and China. Globally, there are 98 million tonnes of lithium resources and we have found 5.5% of the total resources," he said.
According to Jain, if some of these resources can be converted to reserves, it would help India meet its domestic demand and also supply to the world. Citing its importance for India, he said, "India has initiated the battery PLI scheme of INR 18100 crores to set up battery cell manufacturing."
Why can't the lithium discovery be called 'reserve' yet?
Speaking to BOOM, Deepak Krishnan, associate director, World Resources Institute India, explained that the reserves can be termed as 'inferred resources' at the maximum. "We can estimate quantity and grade based on geological evidence, but whose geological and grade continuity cannot be verified at this stage," he said. The estimate is based on sparse data and sampling taken from locations like outcrops, trenches, pits, workings, and drill holes using appropriate techniques.
Differentiating it from 'reserves', Krishnan said, "Reserves on the other hand are that part of a mineral deposit which could be economically and legally extracted or produced. They need to be supported by feasibility studies".
Explaining further, Krishnan explained that the stages of assessment of deposits are based on the United Nations Framework Classification for Resources (UNFC). "The deposits in Kashmir are classified as G3 – Product quantity associated with a project that can be estimated with a low level of confidence. This then needs to move to two more levels in the ‘Degree of Confidence Axis’, and also reach the top level of ‘Technical Feasibility and Maturity’ axis and ‘Environmental & Socio-economic viability’ axis to be a viable project," he said.
Similarly, the 1,600 tonnes of lithium ore found in Karnataka in 2021 were also categorised as belonging to the "inferred category". Later, on February 9, 2021, the Department of Atomic Energy clarified this in a press release.
“This is a preliminary estimate and requires further exploration efforts to convert the estimated resources to exploitable category with high degree of confidence level and explore the possibility of augmenting Li [lithium] resources in the area,” the release said. “With the data presently available with AMD, the actual economic benefits of the exploration cannot be estimated at this stage," it added.
Is lithium mining environmentally viable?
Although the economic viability of lithium for India is still under question, its environmental viability too has a fair share of concerns. A report by Friends of Earth highlighted the environmental issues caused by lithium mining in Chile.
"In Chile’s Atacama salt flats, mining consumes, contaminates and diverts scarce water resources away from local communities. The extraction of lithium has caused water-related conflicts with different communities, such as the community of Toconao in the north of Chile. In Argentina’s Salar de Hombre Muerto, local communities claim that lithium operations have contaminated streams used for humans, livestock and crop irrigation," the report read.
However, we cannot assume the same environmental issues for India. Geologically speaking, India and Chile are different from each other.
Summing it up, Krishnan explained that any mining is a trade-off between commercial considerations and socio-environmental considerations. Like all minerals, if not done with care Lithium mining too may be harmful to the environment. "To my knowledge there are a few attempts to reduce the water footprint of Lithium mining alongside ensuring that chemicals do not leak into the aquifers. We need to see more such methods come to the mainstream," he added.