Lithium

: This article is about the chemical element Lithium. For other uses, see Lithium (disambiguation).

Occurrence

Lithium is widely distributed but does not occur in nature in its free form. Because of its reactivity, it is always found bound with one or more other elements or compounds. It forms a minor part of almost all igneous rocks and is also found in many natural brines. Lithium is the thirty-first most abundant element, contained in trace amounts in the minerals spodumene, ledipolite, and ambylgonite. The Earth's crust contains 65 parts per million (ppm) of lithium.

Related Topics:
Igneous - Brine - Spodumene - Ledipolite - Ambylgonite

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Since the end of World War II, lithium production has greatly increased. The metal is separated from other elements in igneous rocks, and is also extracted from the water of mineral springs. Lepidolite, spodumene, petalite, and amblygonite are the more important minerals containing it.

Related Topics:
World War II - Mineral springs - Lepidolite - Spodumene - Petalite - Amblygonite - Mineral

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In the United States lithium is recovered from brine pools in Nevada.{{ref|periodic.lanl.gov}} Today, most commercial lithium is recovered from brine sources in Chile. The metal, which is silvery in appearance like sodium, potassium and other members of the alkali metal series, is produced electrolytically from a mixture of fused lithium and potassium chloride. There is little market for lithium in its pure metal form and price information is scarce. In 1998 it was about US$ 43 per pound ($95 per kg). {{ref|minerals.usgs.gov}} Chile is currently the leading pure metal lithium producer in the world.

Related Topics:
United States - Nevada - Chile - Silver - Sodium - Potassium - Electrolytically - Potassium chloride - 1998 - US$ - Pound

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Isolation (* follow):

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cathode: mbox{Li}^{+}mbox{*} + mbox{e}^{-} o mbox{Li*}

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anode: mbox{Cl}^{-}mbox{*} o rac{1}{2}mbox{Cl}_2 (mbox{gas}) + e^-

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Terms:

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gas

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e

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