Lithium
LITHIUM The lightest of the solid elements is lithium (Li), an element belonging to Group 1 (Ia) of the periodic table. A number of its alloys and compounds, as well as the soft, white, and glossy metal itself, are produced on an industrial basis. Eventuality and production Lithium was first detected in the mineral petalite by Swedish chemist Johan August Arfwedson in 1817 ; it is also present in brine deposits and as salts in mineral springs; the concentration of lithium in seawater is 0.1 parts per million (ppm). Other sources of lithium include the pegmatite ores spodumene (LiAlSi2O6), lepidolite (of various structures), and amblygonite (LiAlFPO4), which contain between 4 and 8.5 percent Li2O. It makes up roughly 0.002 % of the Earth's crust. Prior to the 1990s, American production from mineral deposits dominated the market for lithium chemicals and metals. However, by the turn of the twenty-first century, non-American countries, primarily Australia, Chile, and Port...