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The mineralogy of Lithium

General Properties
Symbol:	Li
Atomic Number:	3
Standard atomic weight (A_r):	6.941(2)
Electron configuration:	[He] 2s¹

Photos

<	0.5 grams lithium under argon.	>

Atomic Properties
Electronegativity (Pauling scale):	0.98
Atomic Radius:	167 pm
Ionic Radius:	76 pm (+1)
Van der Waals Radius:	182 pm
1st Ionization energy:	520 kJ/mol
1st Electron affinity:	-60 kJ/mol
Oxidation States:	1

Physical Properties
Standard State:	solid
Bonding Type:	metallic
Melting Point:	454 K
Boiling Point:	1615 K
Density:	0.54 g/cm³
Metal/Non-Metal:	alkali metal

Main isotopes of Lithium
Isotope	% in Nature	Half Life	Decay type	Decay product
⁶Li	7.5%	stable
⁷Li	92.5%	stable

Main ions of Lithium
Name	Ion	Example minerals
lithium	Li⁺	Petalite, Spodumene

Other Information
Year Discovered:	1817
Discovered By:	Johan August Arfwedson
Year Isolated:	1821
Isolated By:	William Thomas Brande
Named For:	from Greek: lithos - "stone"
CPK color coding:	#CC80FF
External Links:	Wikipedia WebElements Los Alamos National Laboratory Theodore Gray's PeriodicTable.com

Simple Compounds and Mineral Names
Nitrides	lithium nitride	Li₃N	+1
Sulfides	lithium sulfide	Li₂S	+1
Selenides	lithium selenide	Li₂Se	+1
Tellurides	lithium telluride	Li₂Te	+1
Hydrides	lithium hydride	LiH	+1
Hydroxides	lithium hydroxide	LiOH	+1
Fluorides	lithium fluoride	LiF	+1	Griceite
Iodides	lithium iodide	LiI	+1
Oxides	dlithium oxide	Li₂O	+1
	dilithium peroxide	Li₂O₂	+1
	lithium superoxide	LiO₂	+1
Carbonates	lithium carbonate	Li₂CO₃	+1	Zabuyelite
Nitrates	lithium nitrate	LiNO₃	+1
Sulfates	lithium sulfate	Li₂SO₄	+1
Phosphates	lithium phosphate	Li₃PO₄	+1	Lithiophosphate

Lithium as a chromophore in minerals and gems
Chromophore	Description
Li⁺	Does NOT cause colour as it has no electrons in d-orbitals. Minerals where Li was previously thought to be a colouring agent probably contain other ions such as Mn²⁺.

Mineral Diversity of Lithium
3. Halides	4 valid mineral species
4. Oxides	6 valid mineral species
5. Carbonates	4 valid mineral species
7. Sulfates	1 valid mineral species
8. Phosphates, Arsenates, Vanadates	16 valid mineral species
9. Silicates	83 valid mineral species
Total:	114 valid species containing essential Lithium

Minerals with the greatest weight % of Lithium
Griceite	LiF	26.76 %
Zabuyelite	Li₂CO₃	18.79 %
Lithiophosphate	Li₃PO₄	17.98 %
Liberite	Li₂BeSiO₄	12.07 %
Nalipoite	NaLi₂PO₄	10.53 %
Cryolithionite	Na₃Al₂(LiF₄)₃	5.60 %
Eucryptite	LiAlSiO₄	5.51 %
Simferite	LiMg(PO₄)	5.50 %
Montebrasite	LiAl(PO₄)(OH)	4.76 %
Amblygonite	LiAl(PO₄)F	4.69 %

Geochemistry of Lithium
Goldschmidt classification:	Lithophile
Li⁺ is essential to nutrition of at least some vertebrates ('essential minerals').

Elemental Abundance for Lithium
Crust (CRC Handbook)	2.0 x 10^-5	mass fraction, kg/kg
Crust (Kaye & Laby)	2.0 x 10^-5	mass fraction, kg/kg
Crust (Greenwood)	1.8 x 10^-5	mass fraction, kg/kg
Crust (Ahrens/Taylor)	1.3 x 10^-5	mass fraction, kg/kg
Crust (Ahrens/Wänke)	1.37 x 10^-5	mass fraction, kg/kg
Upper Crust (Ahrens/Taylor)	2.0 x 10^-5	mass fraction, kg/kg
Upper Crust (Ahrens/Shaw)	2.2 x 10^-5	mass fraction, kg/kg
Sea Water (CRC Handbook)	1.8 x 10^-7	mass per volume fraction, kg/L
Sea Water (Kaye & Laby)	1.7 x 10^-7	mass per volume fraction, kg/L
The Sun (Kaye & Laby)	4.0 x 10^-7	atom mole fraction relative to Si=1
Solar System (Kaye & Laby)	5.7 x 10^-5	atom mole fraction relative to Si=1
Solar System (Ahrens)	5.71 x 10^-5 (9.2%)	atom mole fraction relative to Si=1 (% uncertainty)

Element association of Lithium in the Mineral World
This table compares the known valid mineral species listed listed with Lithium and the other elements listed based on the official IMA formula. Note that unlike other sections on this page this includes non-essential elements. The first data column contains the total number of minerals listed with Lithium and the element listed for that row. The second data column lists this number as a percentage of all minerals listed with Lithium. The final data column compares this percentage against the percentage of all minerals that contain the element listed in each row. Click on a heading to sort.

Element	Valid Minerals listed with element and Lithium	% of Li minerals	Relative to % in all minerals
Oxygen	119 minerals with Li and O	96.75%	19.50% higher
Silicon	88 minerals with Li and Si	71.54%	159.04% higher
Hydrogen	67 minerals with Li and H	54.47%	2.48% lower
Aluminium	52 minerals with Li and Al	42.28%	111.07% higher
Sodium	48 minerals with Li and Na	39.02%	107.61% higher
Fluorine	36 minerals with Li and F	29.27%	269.06% higher
Potassium	32 minerals with Li and K	26.02%	161.69% higher
Iron	23 minerals with Li and Fe	18.70%	16.81% lower
Calcium	21 minerals with Li and Ca	17.07%	31.69% lower
Phosphorus	20 minerals with Li and P	16.26%	32.44% higher
Magnesium	19 minerals with Li and Mg	15.45%	15.31% higher
Titanium	16 minerals with Li and Ti	13.01%	86.97% higher
Manganese	16 minerals with Li and Mn	13.01%	11.71% higher
Beryllium	13 minerals with Li and Be	10.57%	382.73% higher
Boron	12 minerals with Li and B	9.76%	92.81% higher
Caesium	6 minerals with Li and Cs	4.88%	839.94% higher
Zirconium	6 minerals with Li and Zr	4.88%	101.87% higher
Carbon	4 minerals with Li and C	3.25%	59.98% lower
Chlorine	2 minerals with Li and Cl	1.63%	78.06% lower
Barium	2 minerals with Li and Ba	1.63%	65.19% lower
Vanadium	2 minerals with Li and V	1.63%	66.24% lower
Yttrium	2 minerals with Li and Y	1.63%	29.39% lower
Tin	2 minerals with Li and Sn	1.63%	11.27% lower
Tantalum	2 minerals with Li and Ta	1.63%	43.23% higher
Copper	1 mineral with Li and Cu	0.81%	94.00% lower
Arsenic	1 mineral with Li and As	0.81%	93.72% lower
Lanthanum	1 mineral with Li and La	0.81%	39.60% lower
Cerium	1 mineral with Li and Ce	0.81%	73.62% lower
Sulfur	1 mineral with Li and S	0.81%	96.32% lower
Zinc	1 mineral with Li and Zn	0.81%	85.64% lower
Rubidium	1 mineral with Li and Rb	0.81%	902.60% higher
Strontium	1 mineral with Li and Sr	0.81%	71.02% lower
Neodymium	1 mineral with Li and Nd	0.81%	5.41% lower
Thorium	1 mineral with Li and Th	0.81%	28.54% higher
Uranium	1 mineral with Li and U	0.81%	84.14% lower

Periodic Table

2He

3Li

4Be

Show/hide current element

Default Categories CPK Electronegativity Atomic Radius Lowest Oxidation Highest Oxidation Crustal Abundance Goldschmidt Mineral Species Minerals with Li Relative Frequency

Helium << Lithium >> Beryllium

Most widespread minerals containing Lithium
This list of minerals containing Lithium is built from the mindat.org locality database. This is based on the number of localities entered for mineral species and is therefore slanted towards minerals interesting to collectors with less coverage of common rock-forming-minerals so it does not give an undistorted distribution of Lithium mineral species. It is more useful when comparing rare species rather than common species.

Most widespread minerals containing Lithium

This list of minerals containing Lithium is built from the mindat.org locality database. This is based on the number of localities entered for mineral species and is therefore slanted towards minerals interesting to collectors with less coverage of common rock-forming-minerals so it does not give an undistorted distribution of Lithium mineral species. It is more useful when comparing rare species rather than common species.

Name	Formula	Crystal System	Mindat Localities
Spodumene	LiAlSi₂O₆	Monoclinic	951
Elbaite	Na(Li_1.5Al_1.5)Al₆(Si₆O₁₈)(BO₃)₃(OH)₃(OH)	Trigonal	642
Triphylite	LiFe²⁺PO₄	Orthorhombic	372
Amblygonite	LiAl(PO₄)F	Triclinic	345
Montebrasite	LiAl(PO₄)(OH)	Triclinic	268
Cookeite	(LiAl₄◻)[AlSi₃O₁₀](OH)₈	Monoclinic	234
Lithiophilite	LiMn²⁺PO₄	Orthorhombic	189
Petalite	LiAl(Si₄O₁₀)	Monoclinic	177
Polylithionite	KLi₂Al(Si₄O₁₀)(F,OH)₂	Monoclinic	131
Holmquistite	◻{Li₂}{Mg₃Al₂}(Si₈O₂₂)(OH)₂	Orthorhombic	66

Photos
Spodumene, etc. Resplendor, Minas Gerais, Brazil Elbaite Paprok, Kamdesh District, Nuristan, Afghanistan Triphylite Emmons Quarry, Uncle Tom Mountain, Greenwood, Oxford County, Maine, USA Amblygonite Pala Mining District, San Diego County, California, USA Spodumene, etc. Resplendor, Minas Gerais, Brazil Elbaite Paprok, Kamdesh District, Nuristan, Afghanistan Triphylite Emmons Quarry, Uncle Tom Mountain, Greenwood, Oxford County, Maine, USA Amblygonite Pala Mining District, San Diego County, California, USA Spodumene, etc. Resplendor, Minas Gerais, Brazil Elbaite Paprok, Kamdesh District, Nuristan, Afghanistan Triphylite Emmons Quarry, Uncle Tom Mountain, Greenwood, Oxford County, Maine, USA Amblygonite Pala Mining District, San Diego County, California, USA

Photos

Spodumene, etc.

Resplendor, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Elbaite

Paprok, Kamdesh District, Nuristan, Afghanistan

Triphylite

Emmons Quarry, Uncle Tom Mountain, Greenwood, Oxford County, Maine, USA

Amblygonite

Pala Mining District, San Diego County, California, USA

Spodumene, etc.

Resplendor, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Elbaite

Paprok, Kamdesh District, Nuristan, Afghanistan

Triphylite

Emmons Quarry, Uncle Tom Mountain, Greenwood, Oxford County, Maine, USA

Amblygonite

Pala Mining District, San Diego County, California, USA

Spodumene, etc.

Resplendor, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Elbaite

Paprok, Kamdesh District, Nuristan, Afghanistan

Triphylite

Emmons Quarry, Uncle Tom Mountain, Greenwood, Oxford County, Maine, USA

Amblygonite

Pala Mining District, San Diego County, California, USA

Localities with greatest number of different Lithium mineral species

1	Dara-i-Pioz Massif, Districts of Republican Subordination, Tajikistan	20 Li minerals
2	Tanco Mine, Bernic Lake, Lac-du-Bonnet area, Manitoba, Canada	17 Li minerals
3	Foote Lithium Co. Mine, Kings Mountain, Cleveland County, North Carolina, USA	14 Li minerals
4	La Mareta, Tenerife, Santa Cruz de Tenerife Province, Canary Islands, Spain	14 Li minerals
5	Koktokay No. 3 pegmatite (Altay No. 3 pegmatite), Altay Mine, Koktokay pegmatite field (Keketuohai pegmatite field), Fuyun Co. (Koktokay Co.), Aletai Prefecture (Altay Prefecture), Yili Hasake Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang, China	13 Li minerals
6	Red Cross Lake pegmatites, Red Cross Lake, Manitoba, Canada	12 Li minerals
7	Poudrette quarry (De-Mix quarry; Demix quarry; Uni-Mix quarry; Carrière Mont Saint-Hilaire; MSH), Mont Saint-Hilaire, La Vallée-du-Richelieu RCM, Montérégie, Québec, Canada	11 Li minerals
8	Buranga pegmatite, Muhororo, Ngororero District, Western Province, Rwanda	9 Li minerals

Minor ores of Lithium
While traditionally lithium has been extracted from various lithium silicate minerals such as spodumene and petalite the majority of ltihium is now produced by processing lithium-rich brines.

Name	Formula	Crystal System
Spodumene	LiAlSi₂O₆	Monoclinic
Petalite	LiAl(Si₄O₁₀)	Monoclinic
Hectorite	Na_0.3(Mg,Li)₃(Si₄O₁₀)(F,OH)₂	Monoclinic
Lepidolite

Photos
Spodumene, etc. Dara-e-Pech pegmatite field, Dara-e-Pech District, Kunar, Afghanistan Petalite Palelni mine, Khetchel village, Molo quarter, Momeik Township, Kyaukme District, Shan State, Myanmar Hectorite Stewart Mine, Tourmaline Queen Mountain, Pala, Pala Mining District, San Diego County, California, USA Lepidolite Mika pegmatite, Rangkul' Highlands, Gorno-Badakhshan, Tajikistan Spodumene, etc. Dara-e-Pech pegmatite field, Dara-e-Pech District, Kunar, Afghanistan Petalite Palelni mine, Khetchel village, Molo quarter, Momeik Township, Kyaukme District, Shan State, Myanmar Hectorite Stewart Mine, Tourmaline Queen Mountain, Pala, Pala Mining District, San Diego County, California, USA Lepidolite Mika pegmatite, Rangkul' Highlands, Gorno-Badakhshan, Tajikistan Spodumene, etc. Dara-e-Pech pegmatite field, Dara-e-Pech District, Kunar, Afghanistan Petalite Palelni mine, Khetchel village, Molo quarter, Momeik Township, Kyaukme District, Shan State, Myanmar Hectorite Stewart Mine, Tourmaline Queen Mountain, Pala, Pala Mining District, San Diego County, California, USA Lepidolite Mika pegmatite, Rangkul' Highlands, Gorno-Badakhshan, Tajikistan

Photos

Spodumene, etc.

Dara-e-Pech pegmatite field, Dara-e-Pech District, Kunar, Afghanistan

Petalite

Palelni mine, Khetchel village, Molo quarter, Momeik Township, Kyaukme District, Shan State, Myanmar

Hectorite

Stewart Mine, Tourmaline Queen Mountain, Pala, Pala Mining District, San Diego County, California, USA

Lepidolite

Mika pegmatite, Rangkul' Highlands, Gorno-Badakhshan, Tajikistan

Spodumene, etc.

Dara-e-Pech pegmatite field, Dara-e-Pech District, Kunar, Afghanistan

Petalite

Palelni mine, Khetchel village, Molo quarter, Momeik Township, Kyaukme District, Shan State, Myanmar

Hectorite

Stewart Mine, Tourmaline Queen Mountain, Pala, Pala Mining District, San Diego County, California, USA

Lepidolite

Mika pegmatite, Rangkul' Highlands, Gorno-Badakhshan, Tajikistan

Spodumene, etc.

Dara-e-Pech pegmatite field, Dara-e-Pech District, Kunar, Afghanistan

Petalite

Palelni mine, Khetchel village, Molo quarter, Momeik Township, Kyaukme District, Shan State, Myanmar

Hectorite

Stewart Mine, Tourmaline Queen Mountain, Pala, Pala Mining District, San Diego County, California, USA

Lepidolite

Mika pegmatite, Rangkul' Highlands, Gorno-Badakhshan, Tajikistan

Spotted a mistake/omission? - These pages are a work in progress, so please send all comments/corrections to jolyon@mindat.org. Thank you.

Constants and physical property data from:

Lide, David R. - Ed. (2005) CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics - A Ready-Reference Book of Chemical and Physical Data (85th ed.). CRC Press.
National Physical Laboratory (2005) Kaye and Laby Online (discontinued). https://web.archive.org/web/20190506031327/http://www.kayelaby.npl.co.uk/
Kaye, G. W. C.; Laby, T. H. (n.d.) Tables of Physical and Chemical Constants and some Mathematical Functions. Longmans, Green, and Co.
Greenwood, N.N.; Earnshaw, A. (1997) Chemistry of the Elements (2nd ed.). Butterworth–Heinemann.
Ahrens, Thomas J. - Ed. (1995) Global Earth Physics - A Handbook of Physical Constants - AGU Reference Shelf No. 1. American Geophysical Union.
Railsback, L. Bruce (2003) An earth scientist's periodic table of the elements and their ions. Geology, 31 (9) 737 doi:10.1130/g19542.1
Emsley, John (2001) Nature's Building Blocks - An A-Z Guide to the Elements. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

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