Base Metals - Vital Commodities for the Global Economy (Archive)

Base Metals Webinar Series

Lithium - Launching Global Exploration

Thursday, January 18, 2024
2:00pm - 3:30pm MST (UTC-7)
Webinar

This free webinar will consist of 60 minutes of mini-lectures followed by 30 minutes of panel discussion and audience Q&A. The webinar is free and open to public registration, pre-registration with Zoom required.

Series Sponsor

Thank you to Maptek for sponsoring the SEG 2023 Base Metals Webinar Series.

Description

Lithium – Launching Global Exploration

The fourth and final installment in the SEG Base Metals Webinar Series will provide geoscientists with an open forum for interaction with prominent industry and academic experts as they discuss the importance of lithium and the significance of its global exploration boom over recent years. It's no secret that lithium has become a commodity of high interest for many exploration companies, and with global reserves of the metal having increased 83% since the first quarter of 2018, lithium has continued to make headlines as the game-changing ingredient for vehicle batteries and renewable energy storage. Given these interests, there's a need for the next generation of geologists to better understand the full scope of the metal's value chain and its exploration potential.

This webinar of focused mini-lectures will allow experts to share their knowledge on a variety of relevant themes, such as investigating lithium with regards to the latest regional and global market trends, modern exploration highlights and frontiers, and significant advances coming from within academia. Following the lectures, a panel discussion will offer conversations on a wide range of key concepts and allow the panelists to bring their unique perspectives to the table.

Mini-Lecture Abstracts

"Lithium demand for decarbonization scenarios: Can mines keep up?"

Adam Simon, University of Michigan

Pathways to decarbonize global transportation fleets and power include significant increases in the deployment of battery electric vehicles and battery energy storage. The current manufacture of these technologies requires lithium and there is concern that mine supply will not meet the growing need for renewable energy technologies. I will review lithium demand for various decarbonization scenarios and discuss current and planned mine production.

"Lithium exploration in Cornwall, UK"

Lucy Crane, Cornish Lithium

Cornish Lithium is seeking to produce lithium from two distinct sources in the UK. The first is a hard rock mica-hosted resource situated in an existing China clay open pit, and the second is from geothermal waters. This talk will give an overview of the?framework for discovery, project development, and our focus on responsible resource stewardship including incorporating new technologies and circular economy principles into project design.

"Exploration of lithium pegmatite systems"

Kathryn Goodenough, British Geological Survey

This talk will focus around one of the major lithium deposit types - lithium pegmatites, and will address recent developments of our understanding in how lithium pegmatites form, and how this relates to exploration models.

This webinar will consist of an introduction to concept, three 18-minute mini-lectures, and a 30-minute panel discussion and Q&A with the audience. Students and early career professionals are highly encouraged to join the discussion!

The motivation for both this series and webinar is to provide the space for attendees to develop a better overall understanding of the full base metals value chain, including modern approaches to exploration methodology and the latest developments in academic thinking. The panelists have been chosen for their expertise and for their diverse range of personal and professional experiences, as well as their passion for developing the skillsets of the next generation of geoscientists.