With Discovery of New Lithium Deposits Last Year, Russia Assured of Resource Independence, Moscow Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, April 2 – With the discovery of new lithium deposits last year – the first such finds in the last two decades – Russia now ranks third in the world in terms of lithium deposits and has assured itself of resource independence of a metal critical for a range of high tech industries, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Patrushev says.

            Russia’s proven reserves of lithium, a metal sometimes referred to as “white oil,” have now reached 3.5 million tons, he says; and that ensures that Russia will have more than enough to support its own industries which now use lithium rather than be forced so import it from others such as China (ura.news/news/1053081966).

            Moreover, Moscow can now use lithium deposits in occupied portions of Ukraine, in particular the Donets Peoples Republic, where there are an estimated 12 to 14 million tons of lithium ore, giving the Kremlin a powerful advantage in international competition where lithium in the 21^st century will be playing a role similar to oil in the 20^th.