China lithium deposit discovered near Mount Everest may be boon in push to secure critical resource
- Lithium is essential in electric vehicle batteries, and its value could increase 4,000 per cent by 2040 if global climate goals are met
- Newly found lithium deposit could be China’s third-largest, and it appears to be of ‘industrial value’
A vast deposit of one of the most highly coveted metals on Earth could potentially be located in the region around Mount Everest, according to Chinese scientists.
The researchers’ discovery of lithium near the world’s tallest mountain comes as global demand for the metal has been skyrocketing, sending prices to record levels and further fuelling geopolitical competition for strategic resources.
The ore deposit may contain as much as 1.0125 million tonnes of lithium oxide, according to the group of scientists from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).
The spot price of lithium metal in the Chinese market soared to more than 2 million yuan (US$316,000) per tonne earlier this month – more than four times the price a year ago.
But it is not yet known how much the new Himalayan deposit – dubbed Qiongjiagang, after the nearest peak – could be worth.
