Energy

Earth's 'kryptonite twin' could power a million EVs, but it's still out of reach

Earth's 'kryptonite twin' could power a million EVs, but it's still out of reach
The mineral that mining companies are desperate to extract from the Earth
The mineral that mining companies are desperate to extract from the Earth
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The mineral that mining companies are desperate to extract from the Earth
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The mineral that mining companies are desperate to extract from the Earth
The sleepy Serbian valley where exploratory mining found jadarite in 2004
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The sleepy Serbian valley where exploratory mining found jadarite in 2004
Lacustrine shale containing white nodular jadarite interbedded with laminated dolomite
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Lacustrine shale containing white nodular jadarite interbedded with laminated dolomite
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With a chemical formula nearly identical to fictional kryptonite, unique mineral jadarite has the potential to power a million electric vehicles each year. But it remains firmly underground, beneath a picturesque valley in rural Serbia – the only place it's been found – more than 20 years after it was discovered.

You may not have heard of jadarite, but it's been at the center of an international battle since exploratory mining by Australian-British company Rio Tinto first unearthed this rare mineral and quickly realized its worth.

In 2004, while prospecting for borates in western Serbia’s Jadar Valley, geologists from the mining giant found something strange: A soft, white, powdery mineral that didn’t match any known records. Chemically, it's unique – containing both lithium and boron – and so far found nowhere else on the planet. With a chemical formula of LiNaSiB3O7(OH), it's almost identical to kryptonite.

“While lacking any supernatural powers the real jadarite has great potential as an important source of lithium and boron,” said Michael Page, a scientist from Australia's Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO). “In fact, the Jadar deposit where it was first discovered is considered one of the largest lithium deposits in the world, making it a potential game-changer for the global green energy transition.”

The sleepy Serbian valley where exploratory mining found jadarite in 2004
The sleepy Serbian valley where exploratory mining found jadarite in 2004

What Rio Tinto found beneath the sleepy valley was Europe's largest deposit of lithium, and the company believed it could extract 2.3 million tonnes of it, which would power a million cars for a few decades. What's more, jadarite's lithium can be mined easier than existing sources extracted from spodumene.

"Jadarite is an economically attractive ore mineral because it holds up to 3.39 wt% lithium and 14.65 wt% boron, the latter of which can be recovered as an extremely useful co-product," researchers noted. "The lithium content of jadarite is comparable to the mineral spodumene (3.61 wt%), which currently supplies most of the world’s hard-rock lithium; jadarite, however, can be processed using less energy-intensive methods. Jadarite is found as white nodules hosted by dolomitic marls and shales deposited within a closed volcano–sedimentary basin. Such basins are common across the Balkans, with many containing borates and oil shales, but only Jadar has jadarite."

During the formation of the Jadar Basin, volcanic ash rich in lithium gathered in a shallow lake. Over time, as water evaporated, the area became highly alkaline, which also turned volcanic deposits into gel-like silica. These then kicked off a chain of reactions that led to the jadarite nodules and other minerals forming. In this process, smectite clay was degraded, releasing lithium that would then also form jadarite.

And it's these unique geological and environmental processes that have made the Jadar Valley the only place, so far, that the mineral has been found.

However, jadarite remains in the ground, where it was first found two decades ago – despite Rio Tinto moving forward with the Jadar Project and a timeline for mining. Environmental impact statements hinted at the scope of damage that the project would likely cause. After nationwide protests, the government canceled mining permits in January 2022, putting the ambitious project on ice. Eighteen months later, the project was revived, but it remains in the planning stage and mining is unlikely to start before 2028 at the earliest (if it gets past the many challenges it faces, both environmental and societal).

Lacustrine shale containing white nodular jadarite interbedded with laminated dolomite
Lacustrine shale containing white nodular jadarite interbedded with laminated dolomite

The story of jadarite is emblematic of the clean energy paradox we're now facing: How to mine the minerals needed in order to move away from fossil fuels for a greener future, without simply replacing one destruction for another?

There is some potential good news, though. Last year, scientists detailed how they were able to create a novel synthetic version of jadarite. However, it remains a proof of concept. Nevertheless, this lab-created form of the mineral could help pave the way for alternative lithium materials that bypass current methods of extraction.

While jadarite may never power an EV, it stands as a testament to how rare and extraordinary Earth’s chemistry can be – and a stark reminder that even when pushing for a more green-powered future, there are complex and significant environmental trade-offs to be reckoned with in the process of getting there.

The research was published in the journal Nature Geoscience.

Source: CSIRO

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3 comments
3 comments
rgbatduke
I'm having a bit of difficulty with the "nearly identical to kryptonite" bit. First of all, kryptonite in the original DC comics (which I grew up with) was the radioactive by-product of the explosion of the planet Krypton, and came in several colors each with its own effect on the magic powers of superman, gained (according to the canon) from exposure to "Earth's yellow sun". Green kryptonite would sap his strength and eventually kill him, red kryptonite would pseudo-mutate him. Gold kryptonite would in principle permanently remove Superman's powers. Blue, black, silver, white, each with its own effect.
The only place where a chemical formula for kryptonite is given is in Superman Returns (2006) where Jadarite was discovered in 2004. Clearly the movie scriptwriters stole the jadarite formula, so it's not a "coincidence" or "remarkable" that the formula is close to that of Kryptonite as given in a movie that does NOT follow the canon, but invents things out of whole cloth to replace them.
Kyrptonite "works" by being radioactive. Jadarite is not only not radioactive, its constituent components are not close to the actinides, which compose most of the semi-stable but radioactive elements in the periodic table (neutron or alpha emitters).
FInally, I gotta say that jadarite is not at all an "energy source". It is simply an alternative way to obtain lithium for use in batteries for cars and cell phones etc, lithium that we can and do obtain in alternative ways already. Don't get me wrong -- lithium mining is more than a bit of a mess, and companies (e.g. Medaro in Canada) are looking for alternative ways of extracting it from ore along with e.g. aluminum or boron with which it is often found that are less toxic and destructive to the environment, but jadarite (by virtue of its rarity if nothing else) isn't going to change that by itself. A "million cars" isn't even enough to justify tearing up the countryside to mine it.
Techutante
I feel like we can already move beyond lithium to something less destructive to mine. From what I've read in the literature, Lithium is more of a transitional technology rather than an end state one.
Marko
Europe can dig in it's own backyard, for example in Germany, not in Serbia, not destroying our water and food sources. Nation is united in this, you will not dig the jadarit here! Go and poison your rivers and soil.