Lithium is a metal that is used in almost all electronics today, with a surge in demand over the last two years pushing up the price more than ten times during that time.
The metal’s production is concentrated in only a few countries, with 80% of the global production and refining coming from China. This presents a unique national and economic security challenge. In fact, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has declared that lithium is “essential” to U.S. economic security and “critical” to national security.
Speaking to Michelle Makori, editor-in-chief of Kitco News at the BMO Global Metals & Mining Conference, Jonathan Evans, CEO of Lithium Americas said that the lithium is ubiquitous. “Your phones, computers, power tools. It’s ubiquitous in everything we do,” he said.
Lithium Americas (NYSE: LAC) is a lithium exploration company with lithium projects in Argentina and the United States. According to the company, the Caucharí-Olaroz project in Argentina is advancing towards production and will become the largest new brine operation in over 20 years.
For the rest of this article and interview: https://www.kitco.com/news/2022-03-04/This-is-why-lithium-skyrocketed-10x-over-two-years-and-is-critical-to-national-security.html