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Science Mining Standard Model Rushes

Vol. Science · Earth resources · interactive

Ore mining
& lithium

A browser lesson on how ores become materials — and why lithium for batteries is three different industries wearing one element name. Pair the physics of grade and process with the history of material rushes on /history/rushes/. For the mineral that was cut, graded, and lost to melt — lake ice, not a polar fleet — see the ice crop. Status context lives on the science desk.

Interactive · Grade & tonnage

How much metal is in the pile?

Ore grade is how rich the rock (or brine) is. Tonnage is how much of that material you move. Contained metal ≈ grade × mass — then recovery, dilution, and cut-off grade eat into what you can actually sell.

Toy: contained metal (t) = ore mass (t) × grade (%) / 100 · recovery ignored

Ore grade1.0%

Ore mass processed1,000,000 t

10,000 t

At 1.0% grade and 1 Mt of ore, the rock “contains” about 10,000 tonnes of metal-equivalent before losses. Real recovery is often far lower; waste rock and tailings still move.

Interactive · Lithium paths

Brine · hard-rock · clay

“Lithium mining” is not one flowsheet. Salars evaporate brine; pegmatites crush spodumene; clay/sediment projects try selective leaching. Pick a path for a qualitative water / time / energy sketch — not ranked scores, just teaching contrasts.

Water
High
Time
Months–years
Energy
Modest–med

Interactive · Ore processing stages

From prospect to product

Click a stage. Most public fights and most technical risk sit in the middle — where chemistry, water, waste, and communities meet the truck fleet.

Stage 01

Exploration

Watch for

Interactive · Geography literacy

Where the map matters

Deposits are not evenly sprinkled. Tap a region for a one-paragraph orientation — enough to read a news headline without confusing Chile’s salars with Australia’s hard-rock mines.

Region

Lithium Triangle

Headline trap

Env & social notes

Environment

  • Water — brine and arid hard-rock projects compete with aquifers, wetlands, and farmers; “consumptive use” is the adult metric.
  • Waste — waste rock, tailings, and spent leachate outlast the boom. Acid drainage and dust are classic failure modes.
  • Energy & carbon — roasting spodumene and refining chemicals can dominate footprint even when the mine looks “clean” on a brochure.
  • Land — pits, pads, evaporation ponds, and haul roads rewrite habitats and viewsheds for decades.

Social

  • Consent & rights — Indigenous title, water rights, and local veto power vary by country; FPIC is a practice, not a logo.
  • Labor — FIFO camps, contractor layers, and boom-town housing pressure; safety culture is non-negotiable.
  • Who sells the pans — same rush pattern as gold: equipment, reagents, consultants, and capital often earn more reliably than claim holders. See Rushes · Gold.
  • Downstream — batteries need nickel, cobalt, graphite, copper, and refining capacity — lithium is one link, not the whole chain.

Related ecology desk: ocean metals — iron fertilization vs deep-sea mining particle experiments (what sank vs what died).

Orientation doors (public)

Educational schematic from public-knowledge mining literacy. Grades, recoveries, and regional sketches are simplified for teaching. Not a mine plan, not reserve disclosure, not financial advice. Cross-read with material rushes when the news starts sounding like 1849 with better logos.