Geological resources have a huge economic importance worldwide, with pegmatitic deposits being a source of raw materials with a ceramic and technological propensity. The interest in pegmatitic deposits began to gain relevance due to the existence of large quantities of high purity industrial minerals, feldspars and quartz, and mainly due to the existence of strategic elements that are found essentially in metals and precious stones, considered to have highly economic value.
In the case of ceramics, it is worth mentioning potassium feldspar (microcline and orthoclase) and sodium plagioclase, in which it is verified that potassium feldspar has a bigger interest for the ceramic industries, as it produces a more viscous liquid, which contributes to the reduction of the deformation of the ceramic body, it provides greater mechanical strength and transparency to the ceramic paste, while in the glass industry, sodium plagioclase is more relevant due to its higher alumina content compared to potassium feldspar.
The ceramic and glass industry take on a relevant role in the world economy and has been showing a great capacity for reinventing, providing a global increase in the size of the market. The concern with the elimination of plastics will lead to a significant increase in demand for ceramics and glass. In this sense, it is necessary to innovate in ceramic and glass products, as well as to increase production efficiency, to reduce the price. The exploitation of pegmatites and the availability of quartz and feldspar for the market significantly increased. This availability may also allow the replacement of wood, to reduce the cutting of trees that are so essential for sustainability. New technologies allow the application in products copying natural stone, wood, etc.
The Portuguese ceramics industry, in addition to being a pioneer in the European Union, Portugal was the first EU country to produce and export these products. China dominates the world market for the most elementary, basic, price-competitive ceramics, and with this domination it strengthens its technical and technological capabilities. It increasingly seeks to penetrate and compete in product markets with higher technical value, without incurring costs related to human production factors and environmental impacts. In the European context, Spain, Italy and Germany are the countries that make the largest investment in equipment in the ceramic industry, in absolute terms.
There are two main types of anomalous occurrences of lithium in the earth's crust that can be considered (1) evaporitic deposits, or brines, and deposits generated by geothermal fluids “brines” (2) minerals in pegmatitic rocks, metasomatic and fine detrital sedimentary rocks. In the second case, LCT pegmatitic rocks contain rare metals such as lithium, cesium and tantalum. Some minerals contained in these rocks, such as spodumene, petalite, lepidolite, after being extracted, are concentrated through physicochemical processes and subsequently hydrometallurgical transformed into lithium carbonate or lithium hydroxide.
Lithium is used in several industrial activities, in the manufacture of medicines, ceramics, glass, synthetic rubber and lubricants, as well as in the aluminium production, aerospace and nuclear engineering sectors. However, in recent years a large part of its production has been concentrated into the manufacture of batteries. In 2019, 65% of lithium production on a global scale was destined to the manufacture of batteries. Three years earlier, in 2016, lithium intended for this purpose represented only 50% of the total.
The exponential demand for lithium in recent years is mainly due to the growth in the use of lithium-ion batteries in the electronics and automobile industries. The first rechargeable lithium-ion battery was commercialized in the early nineties and since then, the use of these batteries in portable electrical appliances has grown significantly. With the significant increase in use, the demand for this raw material increases and the European Union defines lithium as a critical raw material within other 30 raw materials.
Based on the same figure, this forecasts the existence of a structural deficit in the market, starting in 2028, as the factor of possible additional supply cannot keep up with the demand curve. Regarding the demand for lithium hydroxide, it tends to grow 930 000 LCE tonnes in 2025, and 2 000 000 LCE tonnes in 2030.
In a global scale, there are about 95 lithium mines in different stages, in operation; advanced exploitation; pre-feasibility; viable; in a pre-feasibility study; construction; preliminary study to define the metallurgical circuit and in a feasibility study. In the European Union compared to the other countries, its territory has a lower number, 9 lithium mines/projects, located in Portugal, Spain, Finland, Germany and Austria. Regarding the remaining 86 lithium mines, they are in several countries, in China, Zimbabwe, Chile, Canada, Australia, USA, Mali, Argentina, Czech Republic, Peru, Brazil, Serbia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Namibia and Mexico.
