Editing Lithium carbonate (section)

===From ore===

α-spodumene is roasted at 1100&nbsp;°C for 1h to make β-spodumene, then roasted at 250&nbsp;°C for 10 minutes with sulphuric acid.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Meshram |first1=Pratima |last2=Pandey |first2=B. D. |last3=Mankhand |first3=T. R. |title=Extraction of lithium from primary and secondary sources by pre-treatment, leaching and separation: A comprehensive review |journal=Hydrometallurgy |date=1 December 2014 |volume=150 |pages=192–208 |doi=10.1016/j.hydromet.2014.10.012 |bibcode=2014HydMe.150..192M |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0304386X14002278 |access-date=2 Dec 2020 |archive-date=13 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613182331/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0304386X14002278 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="SQM-SUS"/>

As of 2020, Australia was the world's largest producer of lithium intermediates,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2020/mcs2020-lithium.pdf|title=Mineral Commodity Summaries 2020|last=Jaskula|first=Brian W.|date=January 2020|website=U.S. Geological Survey|access-date=29 June 2020|archive-date=1 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101085310/https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2020/mcs2020-lithium.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> all based on spodumene.

In recent years mining companies have begun exploration of [[lithium]] projects throughout [[North America]], [[South America]] and [[Australia]] to identify economic deposits that can potentially bring new supplies of lithium carbonate online to meet the growing demand for the product.<ref>{{cite web
| url= https://www.juniorminingnetwork.com/news-topics/topic/lithium.html
| title= Junior mining companies exploring for lithium
| agency= www.juniorminingnetwork.com
| access-date= 2017-03-30
| archive-date= 2017-03-31
| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170331034435/https://www.juniorminingnetwork.com/news-topics/topic/lithium.html

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