Lithium Mining Market Size

Lithium Mining Market size was over USD 471.04 million in 2024 and is anticipated to cross USD 1.33 billion by the end of 2037, witnessing more than 8.3% CAGR during the forecast period i.e., between 2025-2037. In the year 2025, the industry size of lithium mining is estimated at USD 502.69 million. The growth of the market over the forecast period can be majorly attributed to the surging industrialization as well as the growing demand for lithium globally with its widespread applications for grid storage, manufacturing heat-resistant glass and ceramics, industrial greases, besides its rising utilization in treatments for bipolar disorder and depression. It was found that the annual production of metal lithium in the major producing countries grew from 25,400 to 85,000 tons between 2008 and 2018.

The expanding utilization of lithium and its compounds in several industrial applications, such as heat-resistant glass and ceramics, lithium grease lubricants, flux additives for iron, steel, and aluminum production, lithium metal batteries, and lithium-ion batteries, consumes over 75% of lithium production, therefore augmenting its demand.

Earlier, lithium and its compounds were extracted from hard rock in Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia but since the 1990s mineral springs, brine pools, and brine deposits had become the dominant source of isolation and extraction of lithium. Lithium extraction, especially for commercial purposes takes place from salt-flat brines through a process of evaporation and chemical recovery. It is also recovered through a process that involves crushing, roasting, and acid leaching from lithium-bearing ores, such as spodumene. Other methods of lithium extraction are currently being investigated to help raise global production. This method includes direct lithium extraction from geothermal and oil well brines.

The growing demand for lithium from the glass & ceramic industries, as well as its rising consumption in the production of Li-on batteries that have widespread use in the automotive sector for battery-powered e-bikes, and EVs, besides energy-storage systems, electrification of tools, and other battery-intensive applications, is anticipated to propel the global lithium mining market over the forecast period. As the research, global lithium consumption in 2021 reached nearly 93kt in 2021.