India’s first lithium reserves of 5.9 million tonnes have been discovered in Jammu and Kashmir

Jammu and Kashmir has 5.9 million tonnes of lithium resources, the government said on Thursday. India has not yet made a lithium discovery.

According to the Ministry of Mines, the Geological Survey of India identified lithium inferred resources (G3) for the first time of 5.9 million tonnes in the Salal-Haimana area in the Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir.

“During the 62nd Central Geological Programming Board (CGPB) meeting conducted on February 9, 2023, 35 Geological Memorandums and fifteen other resource-bearing geological reports (G2 & G3 stage) were handed over to various state governments,” the ministry reported.

The ministry went on to say, “Of these 51 mineral blocks, 5 blocks are associated with gold, while the remaining blocks are associated with commodities like potash, molybdenum, base metals, etc. These 51 mineral blocks are located in 11 different states: Jammu & Kashmir (UT), Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana.

The blocks were produced using GSI’s work from field seasons 2018–19 up to this moment.

Lithium is a crucial component in EV batteries.

Additionally, the Ministry of Coal obtained 17 reports on coal and lignite reserves totaling 7897 million tonnes. Seven publications were also released at the meeting on various GSI intervention topics and regions.

According to the ministry, the meeting included a presentation and discussion of the proposed Annual Programme for the upcoming field season (2023-2024). GSI will carry out a total of 966 programs throughout the next year 2023–2024, comprising 318 mineral exploration projects and 12 marine mineral studies projects. Significant focus has been placed on the exploration of strategic-important and fertilizer minerals.

The development of 115 projects on strategic and significant minerals includes 16 projects on the minerals used in fertilizers. A total of 140 basic and transdisciplinary geosciences programs, 55 geoinformatics programs, and 155 training and capacity-building programs have been started.