Lithium Metal DNA™
· Atomic #3 · ₹1,975.26/kg today
The metal the entire electric-vehicle industry is built on top of — mined two completely different ways, and priced with a volatility that turned early investors into instant case studies.
Lithium DNA Profile
Each dimension below is either computed live from data this site already tracks, or a manually researched figure with its own source — see how these are calculated.
How is this calculated?
Computed from the 30-day price change already stored in this site's own price history: score = 50 + (30-day % change × 2), clamped to 0–100. A metal flat over 30 days scores 50; every 1% of 30-day move shifts the score 2 points either way.
How is this calculated?
The standard deviation of daily % price changes over the last 10 trading days, scaled ×20 and clamped to 0–100. A purely descriptive measure of recent swing size, not a positive or negative signal on its own.
How is this calculated?
The single largest producing country's share of reported global production (excluding the "Other countries" residual bucket), taken directly from the USGS-sourced figures already powering /metal-reserves. Higher = more concentrated in one country.
How is this calculated?
Summed reported reserves ÷ summed reported annual production, across only the countries USGS reports both figures for (same commodity, same units — never summed across commodities). Scaled: 40+ years of reserve life scores 100, scaled down linearly below that.
How is this calculated?
Manually researched from each metal's primary industry association (see each metal's Sources section) — not computed. Scored as 100 minus the largest single demand sector's share of total demand, so a metal with no single dominant buyer group scores higher than one dependent on one sector.
No reliable dataset for this metal yet — shown honestly as not scored rather than a guessed number.
Scientific Identity
- Symbol
- Li
- Atomic Number
- 3
- Category
- Battery & Energy Metals
Source: IUPAC Periodic Table of the Elements. Further physical/chemical properties (density, melting point, electron configuration) are planned for a future update — not shown until individually verified per metal.
Two Very Different Ways to Mine the Same Metal
Australia mines more lithium than any other country, almost entirely from hard-rock spodumene deposits in Western Australia, while Argentina — part of South America's brine-based "Lithium Triangle" alongside Chile and Bolivia — extracts it from salt-flat brine instead. Same element, genuinely different industries.
China Controls the Middle of the Chain
Even without mining most of the world's lithium, China dominates the refining step that turns raw spodumene or brine concentrate into battery-grade lithium, and builds the large majority of the world's battery cells — the part of the supply chain that captures the most value sits there, not at the mine.
A Faster Way to Pull Lithium From Brine
A newer extraction method, Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE), pulls lithium straight out of brine using chemical and filtration processes in a matter of hours, instead of the 12-24 months traditional evaporation ponds need. It's still a small share of global supply, but one that could let lithium production expand into brines and locations — including geothermal and oilfield brine — that were never commercially viable under the old sun-and-evaporation model.
Supply Snapshot
Real, USGS-sourced production shares — the same data behind this metal's Geographic Concentration score above. Full breakdown: Metal Reserves →
Did You Know?
Lithium prices went through one of the sharpest boom-and-bust cycles of any metal on this site between 2021 and 2024 — a swing large enough to make gold's volatility look tame by comparison.
Frequently Asked Questions
Lithium Metal DNA™ is MetalsCost's intelligence profile combining scientific identity with market, supply and demand indicators — each indicator is either computed from this site's own stored price and reserves data, or a manually researched, cited figure. See the methodology page for exactly how.
Lithium's overall score of 59/100 is a simple average of the individual dimensions currently scored for it below — click any dimension's "Why?" for its exact formula and source.
Australia accounts for 31.7% of global lithium production, per USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries — see the full production breakdown.
The Lithium price in India today is ₹1,975.26 per kilogram as of August 28, 2026. See the live price and chart.
MetalsCost Metal DNA™ is an informational and analytical indicator. It is not investment advice, a price target, or a recommendation to buy or sell any commodity or financial instrument. See the methodology page for data sources and calculation details.
