/sci/ - Science & Math

>>15243663
Lithium is not rare at all
The best contender for space mining is actually iridium (more than other platinum group metals for that matter)
because how inert and heavy it is, pretty much all of it sunk to the core, so Earth crust has no iridium whatsoever.
the "ore" we use are actually chunks of asteroids that hit the earth.
a single gram costs $154 right now and it's also the 2nd densest metal, which means you could easily fit the entire current global supply in a single return capsule
for the reference, the annual production is 7500 kg (yes, you've read that correctly - seven thousand five hundred KILOS)

It's absolutely essential for making LEDs, which is driving the price up, for years, with no change of trend in sight.