Lithium is a chemical element on the cutting edge due to its lithium-ion batteries used in both electronics and electric vehicles. The emerging use of lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles comes as a promising solution to sustain green transportation. The implications of green transportation could be understood by exploring lithium production and its application concepts. This article expands on those concepts by discussing the lithium supply and how vital lithium is to green technology. Statistical analysis has been applied to determine: (1) The degree of balance and interdependence between lithium raw materials and electric vehicle production, (2) the influence of electric vehicle demand on lithium production, and (3) the contribution of electric vehicles to reducing carbon emissions from road transport. This study provides necessary information on the availability and demand for lithium, which could be the basis for drawing up policies for electric vehicle expansion and lithium supply efficiency.

This article examines the impact of artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) on livelihood in mining communities in Rwanda (Rutsiro) where wolframite and coltan are mined. The paper discusses the development of ASM and other entrepreneur activities, in particular agriculture. With ASM activities, there is environmental degradation on the one hand but also an improvement in the well-being of the local population on the other. The 3T (tin, tungsten, tantalum) minerals extracted by ASM are used in the electronics industry for products such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops, which are mainly consumed in the developed world. Based on questionnaires and structured research with miners, it was determined how ASM affects their lives, or whether there is a deterioration or improvement in their well-being. The research builds on previous field research in Rwanda. Because of mining, communities in the mining areas have access to health care, they can pay tuition fees, insurance, etc. On the other hand, the lives of miners are endangered by respiratory diseases, accidents in mines, landslides in mining areas, and other negative environmental impacts. The extraction of these minerals, however, may lead to a worse quality of life for the miners responsible for the extraction in developing countries. This different view is also illustrated by the fact that miners themselves often do not know what 3T minerals are used for. ASM benefits miners from an economic perspective but may worsen their quality of life due to unsuitable working conditions. This study covers a broader understanding of socioeconomic impacts of ASM and tries to point out the lack of awareness about the mining of minerals important for the daily use of modern technologies. This article would like to contribute to the larger debate about the lack of awareness of the origin of 3T minerals.

The study area in the West Junggar Basin is known to be rich in hydrothermal gold deposits and occurrences, even though there has been minimum exploration in the area. It is here hypothesised that this area could host more gold deposits if mineral exploration methods were to be reinforced. This research is aimed at identifying geochemical anomalies of Au, and determining possible factors and conditions which facilitate the formation of anomalies by referring to As and Hg as gold pathfinders. Geostatistical analyst techniques have been applied to 9,852 stream sediments and bedrock data collected on a total surface of 1,280 km² of West Junggar, Xinjiang (northwest China). The kriging interpolation and quantile-quantile plot methods, combined with statistical methods, successfully identified both Au and its pathfinders’ anomalies. In the present study, median was considered as background values (10.2 ppm for As, 9.13 ppb for Hg and 2.5 ppb for Au), whereas the 95^th percentile were threshold values (28.03 ppm for As, 16.71 ppb for Hg and 8.2 ppb for Au) and values greater than thresholds are geochemical anomalies. Moreover, the high concentrations of these three discovered elements are caused primarily by hydrothermal ore mineralisation and are found to be controlled mainly by the Hatu and Sartohay faults of a northeast-southwesterly direction as well as their related secondary faults of variable orientation, which facilitate the easy flow of hydrothermal fluids towards the surface resulting in the formation of geochemical anomalies. Most of anomalies concentration of Au are found near the mining sites, which indicates that the formation of new Au anomalies is influenced by current or previous mining sites through geological or weathering processes. In addition, the low concentration of gold and its pathfinders found far from active gold mine or faults indicates that those anomalies are formed due to primary dispersion of hosting rock.