Soft and silver-white in colour, lithium belongs to the alkali group of metals and is the lightest and least dense at room temperature. Extremely reactive and flammable, it is not found naturally in its elemental form occurring instead in chemical compounds.

For commercial lithium production the element has to be isolated through electrolysis from a mixture of potassium chloride and lithium chloride and the largest reserves worldwide are found in Chile, although last year Australia topped mining production with an output of 86 thousand tonnes.

Due to its increasing application as a power source for electronic appliances via lithium-ion batteries, its global market value amounted to more than US$4 billion last year and is forecast to rise to about US$6.5 billion by 2030... FULL STORY