One of the key pillars of the global fight against climate change, and the route to Net Zero, is the switch to electric vehicles. Every electric vehicle needs a battery, and those batteries are manufactured from a range of raw materials. The most critical currently include lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese and graphite. Demand for these raw materials is expected to increase significantly in the coming years, with the World Bank forecasting that will be up to five times the level it was in 2018.

Research is ongoing to develop the batteries of the future, and these may require a different mix of raw materials, but lithium in particular looks likely to be essential for decades to come. Although battery recycling will be increasingly important, stocks of used batteries that could be recycled right now are very low compared to anticipated demand. This means that understanding the geology and natural resources of lithium is vital, as this will underpin exploration and mining for this critical raw material.

The world lithium currently comes from two main geological sources: lithium-enriched brines, chiefly in the salt lakes, or salars, of South America; and lithium pegmatites (an unusual type of granitic rock, enriched in a range of rare metals). Lithium pegmatites are mined at a range of localities in Australia, Canada, China and Zimbabwe; but they are known to . Lithium deposits can also be hosted by clay and borate minerals in sedimentary basins, such as those in Nevada in the USA.

51���� is leading a NERC-funded project entitled , or LiFT, which will investigate the complete geological cycle of lithium which will help us  to understand how these different deposit types of lithium form.

Research on this project will investigate how lithium moves through the Earth crust, to understand the geological factors that influence formation of the different types of lithium deposits. We will study ‘natural labs’ in the USA, Argentina, Zimbabwe, the UK, Germany, Turkey and Serbia to help us understand the lithium mineral system. We will also make use of microbiological research and life-cycle assessments to consider the environmental impacts of lithium mining.

Our overarching aim of the project, in collaboration with many others, is to understand where the best lithium deposits occur worldwide and how they can be mined in the most efficient, environmentally-friendly way possible. Achieving this goal will ensure a secure supply of this critical raw material for generations to come.

The project is a collaboration between BGS, the Natural History Museum, and the universities of Exeter, Southampton and Edinburgh. It also involves project partners from industry and academia around the world.

A recent has identified 509 cobalt-bearing deposits and occurrences in 25 countries in Europe.

Global demand for cobalt is increasing rapidly as we transition to a low-carbon economy and work towards net zero. In order to ensure secure and sustainable supplies, there is considerable interest in Europe in understanding the availability of cobalt from indigenous resources.

This new study collates and harmonises cobalt resource data for Europe and assesses it in a global context. It highlights the potential for indigenous supply to meet European demand. It will be of great interest to governments, industry and academia, all of whom are concerned about the long-term security of supply of critical raw materials.

Gus Gunn, MBE, BGS Honorary Research Associate

The study is a collaboration with the geological surveys of Finland, Norway and Sweden, as well as the Greek-based mining company LARCO and Camborne School of Mines, University of Exeter, and is part of a PhD project hosted at the BGS. The study has identified 104 deposits in Europe that are currently being explored for cobalt, of which 79 are located in Finland, Norway and Sweden. In the Balkans and Turkey, cobalt grades and tonnages are known in 27 nickel laterite deposits, with several containing more than 10 000 tonnes of cobalt metal. Only nickel is currently recovered from these deposits, but new processing technologies such as high-pressure acid leaching could enable cobalt recovery in the future.

The data collected in this study has, for the first time, allowed the classification of Europe cobalt resources using the (UNFC) system. The largest part of the known resources can be classified as ‘non-compliant historic estimates’. These resources have not been estimated by using internationally recognised classification standards and future mining at these localities is of high uncertainty. More geological data and considerable investment will be required to get a more reliable resource estimate and to prove the technical and economic viability of these deposits. Improved mineral governance is required to facilitate access to, and ensure sustainable management of, Europe indigenous cobalt resources. Only eight per cent can be classified into commercial projects, where cobalt is currently a by-product of nickel and copper extraction.

The resource inventory compiled in this study does not fully reflect the cobalt resource potential of Europe because data is unavailable for several countries and reporting standards are difficult to compare. However, given increased research into cobalt metallogeny and extractive metallurgy, together with greater focus on cobalt exploration, there is considerable potential for the identification of additional resources in Europe.

Cobalt as a component of electric vehicle batteries

We may tend to think that lithium is the major component of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). However, cobalt generally makes up a greater percentage of the total. Various types of LIBs are currently used in electric vehicles (EVs), but the most important is the lithium nickel-manganese-cobalt oxide (NMC) type.

More about .

Cobalt: industrial uses timeline

Cobalt: supply chain to Europe

Most cobalt is recovered as a by-product of copper or nickel extraction. The major cobalt-producing regions are the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia, with some large deposits also known in Australia, Russia and Canada.

Cobalt can be found in economic concentrations in three principal deposit types:
• stratiform sediment-hosted copper-cobalt deposits
• nickel-cobalt laterite deposits
• magmatic nickel-copper sulfide deposits

Significant concentrations of cobalt may also occur on the sea floor in iron-manganese-rich nodules and cobalt-rich crusts, although to date no cobalt has been commercially extracted from these.

Addressing the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Project partners

• P Eilu and T Törmänen, (GTK)
• T Bjerkgård and J S Sandstad, (NGU)
• E Jonsson, (SGU) and Uppsala University
• S Kountourelis, , Greece
• F Wall, , University of Exeter

Funders

• 51����
• NERC,

Contact

For further information on cobalt and research, please contact Stefan Horn (shorn@bgs.ac.uk), MSc PhD student, critical raw materials team, or follow him on X .

Scientists at the 51���� (BGS) will lead a new £2.5m NERC-funded research project designed to increase our understanding of global lithium resources to support a low carbon future.

The primary aim of the is to improve the understanding of geological cycles of lithium, which is an essential component of electric vehicle batteries.

Decarbonisation of energy and transport is one of the major challenges facing the global economy. Recently, this has been emphasised by the UK government Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution, which has brought the transition to electric vehicles forward, by ten years, to 2030 by ending the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans. 

Recent lithium forecast scenarios suggest that over five times the current global lithium mine production will be required by 2030, solely to support growth in the electric vehicle sector. This extraordinary growth means that recycling cannot meet the growing lithium demand, and extraction from primary resources will be required.

The LiFT project aims to increase our understanding of the geological processes that concentrate lithium into a range of different types of mineral deposit, from which lithium can be mined in both an economically feasible and environmentally responsible manner. The project will also investigate the environmental impacts of a range of different deposit mining scenarios in order to provide quantitative information for planning and policy decision making.

LiFT will bring together academic partners at the and the universities of , , and , together with a wide range of minerals industry and governmental partners in the UK and overseas.

I’m delighted that we have been awarded a NERC Highlight Topic grant to investigate the processes by which lithium is mobilised and enriched in the Earth crust. Lithium is a critical raw material and is essential for the batteries that will drive the electric vehicle revolution, so it vital for us to understand our natural resources.

Dr Kathryn Goodenough, BGS Principal Geologist

The project will investigate the ‘life cycle’ of lithium in the Earth crust. It is understood that lithium is brought to the Earth surface by volcanic eruptions above subduction zones, and that weathering of the volcanic rocks can release lithium into rivers and lakes. The lithium is then laid down in muds and salt deposits that accumulate in these lakes. Over geological time, those deposits may be buried and some will melt to form lithium-rich magmas. The LiFT project will study the processes by which lithium moves through the crust and is concentrated into minable mineral deposits, which will be important for future exploration.

Global production of lithium has seen a sharp increase of 235 per cent in five years, according to the latest figures now published in by BGS.

The latest version of the WMP, available to download on the Minerals UK website, sets out production figures by country for more than 70 mineral commodities over the five-year period from 2014 to 2018. The BGS has published these data annually, since 1913.

Updated figures show mineral production being driven by the growing demand for electric vehicles, with the largest global increases for commodities used to manufacture batteries, including the production of lithium (25 per cent), cobalt (18 per cent), graphite and nickel (both 13 per cent).

Scientists at the BGS say the figures for lithium are “particularly significant” as it follows a major increase in production between 2016 and 2017. This has been driven by a substantial contribution from production in Australia, as well as Canada, Chile, Zimbabwe and China. Namibia and Nigeria have also added to new production.

The latest statistical data on minerals production in the UK has also been made available this week by the BGS, with its publication of the .

An annual publication, the yearbook offers essential information about the production, consumption and trade of UK minerals, and industry updates primarily intended to inform key decision makers.

The UK produces around 200 million tonnes of minerals each year, which contributes directly to our construction, agriculture, energy and manufacturing, construction sectors.

Most notable are the increase in the value of sand and gravel, worth £902 million to the UK economy in 2018, compared to £555 million in 2012.

Production of crushed rock has risen from a historic low in 2009 of 91 103 000 tonnes to 126 600 000 tonnes in 2017, reflecting the gradual recovery in the construction sector and the wider UK economy.

Iron, steel and coal production have dropped in the last five years.

There is continuing interest and concern surrounding the worldwide security of supply of certain minerals. Indications suggest that materials use is projected to more than double by 2060, with metals expected to grow the fastest.

It critically important that we understand the pressure this will place on the environment, global economies and future gains in well-being. BGS research is evolving to address this challenge, and increasingly our focus is on improving understanding of stocks and flows of raw materials, such as cobalt and lithium, which are essential to decarbonise our future energy and transport systems.

Dr Karen Hanghøj, BGS Director.

Andrew Bloodworth, BGS Science Director for Policy, Decarbonisation and Resource Management stressed that BGS will continue to work with European partners on several minerals-related research projects in the coming months.

Although metals are an essential component of decarbonisation technologies, their production is currently carbon intensive.

This has led BGS to develop an interest in understanding how sustainable and responsible supply of metals from primary and secondary sources can be improved, and what policies or approaches will be most effective in implementing change.

Andrew Bloodworth, BGS Science Director for Policy, Decarbonisation and Resource Management.