|
| TABLE 4 | ||||||||||
| LITHIUM MINERALS AND BRINE: ESTIMATED WORLD PRODUCTION, BY COUNTRY1, 2 | ||||||||||
| (Metric tons) | ||||||||||
| Country3 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | |||||
| Argentina:4 | ||||||||||
| Lithium carbonate | 906 | 5 | 2,850 | 4,970 | 5 | 7,300 | r, 5 | 8,000 | ||
| Lithium chloride | 4,729 | 5 | 4,700 | 6,303 | 5 | 8,400 | r, 5 | 8,500 | ||
| Australia, spodumene | 79,085 | 5 | 124,410 | 5 | 118,451 | 5 | 173,635 | r, 5 | 175,000 | |
| Brazil, concentrates | 12,046 | 5 | 12,100 | 12,100 | 12,100 | 12,100 | ||||
| Canada, spodumene6 | 22,500 | 22,500 | 22,500 | 22,500 | 22,500 | |||||
| Chile, carbonate from subsurface brine | 35,242 | 5 | 41,667 | 5 | 43,971 | 5 | 43,595 | r, 5 | 43,600 | |
| China, carbonate | 13,000 | 13,500 | 14,000 | 15,000 | 15,000 | |||||
| Portugal, lepidolite | 16,325 | 5 | 16,000 | 16,000 | 16,000 | 16,000 | ||||
| Russia, minerals not specified7 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 2,200 | 2,200 | 2,200 | |||||
| United States, subsurface brine | W | W | W | W | W | |||||
| Zimbabwe, amblygonite, eucryptite, lepidolite, petalite, spodumene | 33,172 | 5 | 12,131 | 5 | 13,710 | 5 | 37,499 | r, 5 | 30,000 | |
| rRevised. W Withheld to avoid disclosing company proprietary data. | ||||||||||
| 1Table includes data available through April 23, 2007. | ||||||||||
| 2Estimated data are rounded to no more than three significant digits. | ||||||||||
| 3In addition to the countries listed, other nations may produce small quantities of lithium minerals, but output is not reported, and no valid basis is | ||||||||||
| available for estimating production levels. | ||||||||||
| 4New information was available from Argentine sources, prompting major revisions in how lithium production was reported. | ||||||||||
| 5Reported figure. | ||||||||||
| 6Based on all Canada's spodumene concentrates (Tantalum Mining Corp. of Canada Ltd.'s Tanco property). | ||||||||||
| 7Lithium contained in concentrates and brine. These estimates denote only an approximate order of magnitude; no basis for more exact estimates is | ||||||||||
| available. Other countries from the Commonwealth of Independent States, including Uzbekistan, could have produced or could be producing lithium, | ||||||||||
| but information is not available for estimating production levels. | ||||||||||
Source: United States Geological Survey Mineral Resources Program