Assessment of undiscovered Li resources in LCT pegmatites in Finland

Lithium resources in undiscovered LCT pegmatite deposits were estimated down to the depth of one kilometre in the bedrock of Finland using a three-part quantitative assessment method. Based on global data from 29 LCT pegmatite-hosted Li deposits we considered the best explored, we constructed a grade-tonnage model for our assessment. Nineteen permissive tracts were delineated for these deposits. Altogether, these tracts cover 22,404 km(2), which is 7% of the land area of Finland. The expected number of undiscovered Li deposits within the permissive tracts in Finland is 7, and these are estimated to contain, with a 50% probability, at least 510,000 t of lithium. Two thirds of the estimated undiscovered lithium resources in Finland are located within two permissive tracts in Western Finland. The assessment results indicate that at least 90% of the remaining lithium endowment within the uppermost 1 km of the Finnish bedrock is in poorly explored or entirely unknown deposits. Compared to global identified Li resource, these numbers are minor, but may be of importance for the near-future European Li battery industry. There has been no global assessments of undiscovered lithium resources to compare with the results from Finland.