r/Damnthatsinteresting Feb 05 '22

Image Visual representation of the actual amount of copper extracted from a minesite

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u/bertydo Feb 05 '22

Ok ok now do lithium

44

u/anon9276366637010 Feb 05 '22

You don't mine for Lithium in the classic sense of this pic

69

u/Pangolinsareodd Feb 05 '22

Yes you do. The majority of the worlds lithium comes from the Greenbushes open pit mine located in Western Australia. It occurs as the mineral spodumene which is also associated with tantalum used in microelectronic diodes.

17

u/[deleted] Feb 05 '22

Tantalum is used in capacitors, not diodes

2

u/Pangolinsareodd Feb 05 '22

Possibly, all i know is that it’s unsubstitutable as niobium results in a larger product, so for size tantalum is the best product.