And Chile government is making moves towards being more involved in new deals. Not quite nationalization, but...
Purraps a bit like oil ? Reserves depend on prices ?
Iran is not a reserve it may well be a resource but a long way from being a Jorc etc reserve.
Also that lithium triangle is still a historic artefact of lithiums previous life as a really good lubricant and anti depressant. Given lithiums importance these days, more and more hard rock deposits will be found.
For the xth time in yth year There is no lithium shortage. Up until a decade ago we weren’t even looking for it. Now that there is money to be had we will find it.
A huge factor is accessibility of reserves. Often new discoveries are so remote and inaccessible that they are completely unrealistic to be producing within the next 10/20 years. I think both Iran and Argentina fall into this category.
The area is thought to hold around 54% of the world's lithium reserves."
Well, not any more maybe. A large lithium deposit has been dis-covered in Iran as the internationalbanker article notes. (Unusal hyphenation of discovered intentional: it was uncovered, made more widely known, rather than found for the first time ever.) Now that it's in demand, no doubt there are many more deposits of lithium waiting for the limelight.
Wikipedia continues: "By one estimate Argentina could displace Chile as the second largest lithium producer by 2027.[3] Similarly, there are estimates the posits [sic] Argentina producing 16% of the World's lithium by 2030, instead of 6% as in 2021.[3] Low royalty payments when compared to Chile are cited by The Economist as a particular advantage.[3]"
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_Triangle