2024-01-22 07:34:36
Lithium batteries. (AFP / OLIVIER CHASSIGNOLE)
The recently discovered lithium reserve in Thailand, once hoped to be one of the largest in the world, is not as large as advertised, a government representative has backpedaled.
The deposit identified in the province of Phang Nga (south) contains 14.8 million tonnes of mineral resources, including lepidolite containing traces of lithium, corrected Rudklao Intawong Suwankiri, deputy government spokesperson.
“However, this quantity of lithium can be used to produce 50 kWh batteries for around a million electric vehicles,” she stressed on Saturday.
The initial statement on Friday reported 14.8 million tonnes of lithium, which would have made Thailand the third country in the world with the largest reserves of this key mineral in the energy transition.
Identified as a “critical” metal by the European Commission in 2020, lithium is an essential component of electric car batteries.
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin wants to accelerate the transition of Thailand, a major automobile production center, to electric.
Bolivia, Argentina and Chile concentrate around half of the world’s reserves of this highly coveted white gold, according to the American Geological Survey (USGS).
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