Digital soil mapping of lithium in Australia

Ng, Wartini; Minasny, Budiman; McBratney, Alex; de Caritat, Patrice; Wilford, John

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-2465-2023

Articles | Volume 15, issue 6

https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-2465-2023

© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-2465-2023

© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 15, issue 6

Data description paper

|

14 Jun 2023

Data description paper |

| 14 Jun 2023

Digital soil mapping of lithium in Australia

Wartini Ng, Budiman Minasny, Alex McBratney, Patrice de Caritat, and John Wilford

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-2465-2023-supplement

Data sets

National Geochemical Survey of Australia: The Geochemical Atlas of Australia P. de Caritat and M. Cooper https://doi.org/10.11636/Record.2011.020

Northern Australia Geochemical Survey: Data Release 2 – Total (coarse fraction), Aqua Regia (coarse and fine fraction), and Fire Assay (coarse and fine fraction) element contents P. T. Main, E. N. Bastrakov, A. S. Wygralak, and M. Khan https://doi.org/10.11636/Record.2019.002

Predicted aqua regia-extractable lithium concentration in Australia Wartini Ng, Budiman Minasny, Alex McBratney, Patrice de Caritat, and John Wilford https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7895482

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Short summary

With a higher demand for lithium (Li), a better understanding of its concentration and spatial distribution is important to delineate potential anomalous areas. This study uses a framework that combines data from recent geochemical surveys and relevant environmental factors to predict and map Li content across Australia. The map shows high Li concentration around existing mines and other potentially anomalous Li areas. The same mapping principles can potentially be applied to other elements.