Greenbushes hard-rock lithium mine in Western Australia, labelled by the Sydney Morning Herald, “the world’s largest hard-rock lithium mine”.Lithium is a soft metal with a silvery-white appearance. It is recovered from mineral deposits, mostly from spodumene and large lithium-rich brines in salt lakes.
According to Statista, as of 2018, Australia has surpassed Chile to become the largest producer of lithium by metric tonnes. Australia is home to lithium miners, Orocobre, Galaxy Resources, Pilbara Minerals, Mineral Resources and Altura Mining with most of the large lithium miners producing lithium from hard-rock spodumene in Western Australia.
Lanthanum’s primary end-uses include automotive and imaging/vision applications. Lanthanum prevents corrosion in EV batteries, adds efficiency to petroleum cracking and enables specialized treatments for lenses and vision systems.