|
|
|
The 10 Countries That Mine the Most Lithium |
|
|
Every January the U.S. Geological Survey counts how much lithium each country pulled from the ground. Australia leads by a wide margin, digging up about a third of the world's supply. The famous “lithium triangle” isn't on top. And Bolivia, sitting on the largest deposit on Earth, barely mines any. |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Source: USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026. Lithium mine production, 2025, tonnes of lithium content. U.S. 2025 figure withheld; 2024 (~1,000 t) shown. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Before the market even moves…
Most beginner options traders think their first losses will come from picking the wrong stock.
The truth? Plenty of them lose money in the first 10 seconds of a trade — before the market moves an inch.
It happens at the buy button. One order type quietly hands your money to the professionals on the other side, a slice at a time, in a way that never shows up as a line item anywhere.
The fix is one permanent rule.
It takes one settings change and about a minute to learn — and it protects every trade you'll ever place, entering and exiting.
It's one chapter of Your First Trade Playbook — the step-by-step plan that takes you from "never traded" to ready for your first options trade, in one sitting.
Normally $29.97. Free today.
P.S. The pros will happily accept the 10-second tip from every beginner who doesn't know the rule. Don't be the tipper. Get the playbook free.
| What's Surprising |
Australia mines a third of the world's lithium and gets almost none of the attention. No salt flats, no headlines — just hard rock. Its mines in the west dug up 92,000 tonnes last year, more than any country and about half again what China managed.
The “lithium triangle” is the famous part, and half of it is missing. Chile ranks third, Argentina fifth. Bolivia holds the largest lithium deposit on Earth — a salt flat with an estimated 23 million tonnes — and mines under one percent of world supply. The metal is there. The mines aren't.
The United States barely registers. It sits on some of the biggest reserves anywhere and runs a single commercial operation in Nevada — so little the USGS won't print the figure. Its share of world mining is under one percent.
| What's Not Surprising |
China ranks second at the mine and first everywhere after. It pulls out a fifth of the world's lithium and refines around two-thirds of it. Rock from Australia and Africa is shipped in, turned into battery chemicals, and sold on. The mine isn't where the power sits.
The top three — Australia, China, Chile — account for nearly three-quarters of everything mined. Lithium is common in the earth's crust; the deposits worth digging are not. This is a concentrated business by nature.
Zimbabwe's jump to fourth is the newest thread, and it fits the pattern. Chinese firms built the mines fast; the ore heads to China to be refined. New sources, same destination.
|
|
|
92,000 t Australia's lithium mined last year — about a third of the world's total, and more than any other country. |
|
|
|
|
|
~65% China's share of the world's lithium refining (IEA), though it mines only a fifth. The rock is dug elsewhere and processed there. |
|
|
|
|
|
23 million Tonnes of lithium under Bolivia's salt flats, the largest deposit on Earth. It mines less than one percent of world supply. |
|
|
|
|
|
4th Zimbabwe's rank — barely a producer a few years ago, now Africa's biggest lithium source, on the back of Chinese-built mines. |
|
|
|
|
|
Under 1% The U.S. share of world lithium mining, despite holding some of the largest reserves and pushing hard on electric cars. |
|
|
|
|
|
The USGS refreshes these numbers every January. Watch three things. Whether Bolivia's long-promised production finally starts. Whether the United States climbs off under one percent as new mines open. And whether prices, which fell hard through 2024 and stayed low, recover enough to keep the newest mines running. Cheap lithium slows everyone down. We'll be watching. |
