Spodumene: The Lithium Market, Resources and Processes

Abstract

This literature review gives an overview of the lithium industry, including the lithium market, global resources, and processes of lithium compounds production. It focuses on the production of lithium compounds from spodumene minerals. Spodumene is one of the most critical minerals nowadays, due to its high lithium content and high rate of extraction. Lithium is one of the most sought-after metals, due to the ever-growing demand for lithium-ion batteries (LiBs). The data on lithium extraction from minerals is scattered through years of patents, journal articles, and proceedings; hence, requiring an in-depth review, including the comprehension of the spodumene phase system, the phase conversion processes, and the lithium extraction processes.