lithium 1997 46 1 l ithium by joyce a ober after decades as the world s leading producer of and its compounds united states was surpassed in when chile became largest carbonate both operations at salar de atacama produced during entire year for first time an additional brine operation began producing argentina further shifting production dominance to south america maintained position value added also consumer despite shift australia canada zimbabwe were important sources ore concentrates because is electrochemically reactive has other unique properties there are many commercial products producers sell mineral concentrate compound or metal depending on end use most consumed ceramics glass primary aluminum legislation government programs us naval surface warfare center crane awarded 10 5 million contract recycle batteries that had been used backup power underground missile silos toxco inc recycling company based
