Lithium deposits found in J&K – What to make of the discovery?

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In this opinion piece, senior geologist Dr Devarajan Mylappally – VP at Supreme Gold Corporation, shares his perspective on the nature of the recent Lithium deposits discovery in J&K (India) and cautions about the unfounded enthusiasm around it.

India’s Ministry of Mines announced on Feb 9, 2023, that the Geological Survey of India (GSI) has established 5.9 million tonnes of inferred resources of Lithium in the Salal-Haimana area of Reasi District of Jammu & Kashmir. As soon as the announcement was made, the media went into a frenzy with premature celebrations around self-sufficiency and energy security. The story caught the attention of the global exploration and mining community as Lithium is an essential metal in green energy programs, and the reported quantity was significant.

Before elaborating on the Indian “discovery”, let us have a brief look at the global lithium exploration and mining scenario.

Global lithium exploration and mining scenario

Most of the Lithium extracted worldwide is from liquid brine reservoirs beneath salt flats (salars) in southwestern South America. The other major source of Lithium is pegmatite-hosted (hard rock) lithium ore deposits. These are often richer in lithium content than the salar brines. Although there are over 100 different minerals with some amount of Lithium, only five are mined. However, the extraction costs from pegmatite ore are nearly twice that of brines due to their mining, milling, and metallurgy costs.

The saleable product in both brine and pegmatite-hosted mines is commonly Lithium carbonate. Lithium is one of the secondary elements occurring in bauxite, where lithium content can reach up to 0.3% (as Li2O). Most Lithium in bauxitic ores is mainly hosted in illite, a clay mineral, whereas Lithium in aluminous claystone is mainly hosted in kaolinite, another clay mineral. Hectorite is a silicate of Na, Mg, and Li and contains about 0.5% Li. It is a member of the smectite family of clay minerals and is considered the most widespread among the Li-clay minerals. However, the extraction of Lithium from the clays is challenging and costly.

Discovery of lithium reserves in India

The Geological Survey of India carried out an exploration program for bauxite during the nineties in the Reasi area, where it established 5.9 Mt Inferred Resources (G3) of bauxite. This is understood to be high silica bauxite and might not be suitable for most alumina plants unless beneficiated. This bauxite is also reported to have anomalous Lithium, between 332 ppm to 500 ppm. This translates into a small amount of lithium metal (2950 tonnes), assuming even a 100 per cent recovery.

The Reasi resource was declared by GSI as the “Inferred” category. This has the lowest level of geological confidence and can not be used in any feasibility study. The other higher categories are “Indicated” and “Measured”. While declaring a “Resource”, the geologists use a criterion known as RPEEE (Reasonable Prospects of Eventual Economic Extraction).

It is not mandatory to declare a “Resource” at the end of an exploration program if the tests have shown mere anomalous values and the chances of recovering valuable metal are remote due to either very low grade, low tonnage or difficult metallurgical factors, as per the prevailing technology.

So, the declaration of a resource itself is questionable in the case of the Reasi deposit, especially considering the poor quantity, low grade and metallurgical challenges. The concept of RPEEE has not been applied before declaring this as a resource, not only for lithium but even for bauxite.

An Inferred Mineral Resource (333) cannot be converted to Mineral Reserve but may be upgraded to Indicated Mineral Resource with additional drilling. The 5.9 Mt Lithium Inferred Resources (333) can be only considered as a preliminary exploration result and cannot be termed as Mineral Reserves. As per international exploration practices, a mineral “reserve” is declared only after carrying out detailed feasibility studies on a mineral “resource” of higher geological confidence (“Measured” or “Indicated”).

In my opinion, the Reasi Inferred Resource does not demonstrate reasonable prospects for environmental-socio-economic viability in the near future. It will be premature to highlight such a  project as a major discovery. This will not catapult India to the status of the second-largest lithium-rich country, as claimed in the media. India needs to look elsewhere for its green energy plans and adhere to international standards when it comes to reporting resource discoveries.

About the Author

Dr Devarajan Mylappally, MAusIMM, a leading Indian exploration geologist, has more than three decades of experience exploring for precious and base metals, both domestically and internationally. He is a firm believer in meticulously adhering to global industry norms while executing exploration programs and in reporting the exploration results.

This article was published in EVreporter March 2023 Magazine that can be accessed here.