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Philadelphia, PA, 16 February 2011 - Lithium, introduced in the late 1940's, was the first "wonder drug" in psychiatry. It was the first medication treatment for the manic and depressive episodes of bipolar disorder and it remains among one of the most effective treatments for this disorder. In the past 15 years, as molecular mechanisms underlying the treatment of bipolar disorder began to emerge, basic research studies conducted in animals began to identify neuroprotective and perhaps neurotrophic effects of this important medication. The identification of these molecular actions of lithium coincided with the discovery of regional brain volume deficits in...

A regular uptake of the trace element lithium can considerably promote longevity. This is the result of a new study by scientists of Friedrich Schiller University Professor Dr. Michael Ristow's team along with Japanese colleagues from universities in Oita and Hiroshima have demonstrated by two independent approaches that even a ow concentration of lithium leads to low concentration of lithium leads to an increased life expectancy in humans as well as in a mode humans as well as in a mode organism, the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans. The research team presents its results in the online edition of the scientific publication...

New Nanoengineered Batteries Developed at Rensselaer Exhibit Remarkable Power Density, Charging More Than 40 Times Faster Than Today’s Lithium-ion BatteriesAn entirely new type of nanomaterial developed at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute could enable the next generation of high-power rechargeable lithium (Li)-ion batteries for electric automobiles, as well as batteries for laptop computers, mobile phones, and other portable devices. The new material, dubbed a “nanoscoop” because its shape resembles a cone with a scoop of ice cream on top, can withstand extremely high rates of charge and discharge that would cause conventional electrodes used in today’s Li-ion batteries to rapidly deteriorate and...

Jesse Ventura has found two new reasons not to trust the government, and he's telling anybody in the halls of Congress who will listen. The first bit of intrigue involves what he sees as the military's move to undermine his reality truTV series, "Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura," by not letting him film a stand-up in front of the Eternal Flame at the gravesite of John F. Kennedy. The former Minnesota governor also claims the U.S. is fighting in Afghanistan to secretly secure a massive lithium deposit to make the world safe for cell phone, computer and electric car batteries....

Following the news Monday that geologists have found a mother lode of minerals in Afghanistan -- reports argued deposits of iron, copper, gold and other goodies could collectively be worth close to $1 trillion -- it's worth asking a few extra questions. In particular, there's been an unusually strong focus on the lithium portion of the find. A key ingredient in high-tech batteries for laptops, smart phones, electric cars and the like, its been heralded as the future cornerstone of the world's energy infrastructure. But is lithium really going to save Afghanistan, as many media outlets seem to think? Nope,...

Afghanistan is sitting on a wealth of mineral reserves -- perhaps the richest in the region -- that offer hope for a country mired in poverty after decades of war, the mining minister says. Significant deposits of copper, iron, gold, oil and gas, and coal -- as well as precious gems such as emeralds and rubies -- are largely untapped and still being mapped, Mohammad Ibrahim Adel told AFP. And they promise prosperity for one of the world's poorest countries, the minister said, dismissing concerns that a Taliban-led insurgency may thwart efforts to unearth this treasure. Already in the pipeline...

$1 Trillion in Minerals Discovered in Afghanistan [Daniel Foster] The New York Times reports that a team of U.S. Defense Department officials and geologists have discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped iron, copper, cobalt, gold, lithium, and other minerals scattered throughout Afghanistan — enough to “fundamentally alter the Afghan economy and perhaps the Afghan war itself, according to senior American government officials.” E.g.: — An internal Pentagon memo predicts Afghanistan could become the “Saudi Arabia of lithium,” an important component of high-end batteries. — “There are a lot of ifs, of course, but I think potentially it is hugely significant,”...

Military deployment and close political ties may give U.S. ideal opportunity to harvest valuable resourceLithium deposits worldwide may be sufficient to eventually sustain the demands of an electric-vehicle driven world and modern electronics, but in the near-term, demand-driven shortages loom.  Fortunately, the U.S. has made a pivotal discovery that may help to keep costs in the U.S. down. According to a report in The New York Times, senior American government officials are quoted as saying that a massive mineral deposit has been discovered in Afghanistan which holds $1T USD in lithium, iron, copper, cobalt, and gold deposits.  The lithium deposits are expected to exceed those...

Wow! Talk about a game changer. The story goes on to outline Afghanistan's apparently vast underground resources, which include large copper and iron reserves as well as hitherto undiscovered reserves lithium and other rare minerals. Read a little more carefully, though, and you realize that there's less to this scoop than meets the eye. For one thing, the findings on which the story was based are online and have been since 2007, courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey.

The United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, far beyond any previously known reserves and enough to fundamentally alter the Afghan economy and perhaps the Afghan war itself, according to senior American government officials. The previously unknown deposits — including huge veins of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like lithium — are so big and include so many minerals that are essential to modern industry that Afghanistan could eventually be transformed into one of the most important mining centers in the world, the United States officials believe. An internal Pentagon memo,...

Following reports that nearly $1 trillion in natural resources have been found in Afghanistan, Congressman Dennis Kucinich released the following statement: "We have just learned that there are nearly $1 trillion of untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan. This is a massive find that must be managed by the Afghan people. "Even before the discovery of these minerals, we knew that we were propping up a corrupt government in Afghanistan. According to officials, it is likely that Afghanistan's former Minister of Mines took a $30 million bribe to give China the rights to develop a copper mine.“This discovery demands a more...

This week the U.S. Defense Department revealed that Afghanistan possesses at least $908.9 billion in untapped mineral resources. Iron accounts for $420.9 billion of the total, and copper $274.0 billion. There is cobalt, gold and molybdenum. The country could become, according to a Pentagon memo, the “Saudi Arabia of lithium.” Just as interesting, there is niobium, used to make superconducting steel.

Geopolitics: With the war in Afghanistan mired in uncertainty, news that the country has vast mineral treasures to exploit suggests a brighter future. But there's potential turmoil as well as copper and lithium in them thar hills. Reports earlier this week that not only those minerals but cobalt and gold have been discovered in the Central Asian hot spot, just waiting to be mined, gave fleeting hope that the yield of the newfound wealth, estimated at close to a trillion dollars, would offer an enticing exit from the bloody conflict and a new and prosperous civilization. If only. Sobriety quickly...

Afghan minerals may be triple original estimate: Mining Minister 17 June 2010, 1:28 p.m. By Daniela Cambone Of Kitco News www.kitco.com Montreal -- (Kitco News) --Afghanistan's mining minister, said Thursday that mineral deposits in his country could be worth up to three trillion dollars, triple the US estimate from earlier this week. "A very conservative estimate has been one trillion. Our estimation is more than that... the idea is it could be up to three trillion dollars," mining minister Waheedullah Shahrani told a news conference today in Kabul. Kitco News interviewed Shahrani back in March on the sidelines of the...

Afghanistan just got its worst news since the Soviet invasion three decades ago: American geologists have charted as much as a trillion dollars' worth of mineral deposits in that tormented landscape. Up to now, Afghanistan's internal factions and neighbors have been fighting over worthless dirt, Allah and opium. Assigning the battlefield a trillion-dollar value is not a prescription for reconciliation. Expect "The Beverly Hillbillies" scripted by Satan. Even were Afghanistan at peace, its endemic corruption would generate a grabocracy -- a Nigeria, not a Norway. Throw in inherited hatreds and the appetites of its neighbors, and Afghanistan may end up...

WASHINGTON — The United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, far beyond any previously known reserves and enough to fundamentally alter the Afghan economy and perhaps the Afghan war itself, according to senior American government officials. The previously unknown deposits — including huge veins of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like lithium — are so big and include so many minerals that are essential to modern industry that Afghanistan could eventually be transformed into one of the most important mining centers in the world, the United States officials believe. An internal...

WASHINGTON — The United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, far beyond any previously known reserves and enough to fundamentally alter the Afghan economy and perhaps the Afghan war itself, according to senior American government officials. The previously unknown deposits — including huge veins of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like lithium — are so big and include so many minerals that are essential to modern industry that Afghanistan could eventually be transformed into one of the most important mining centers in the world, the United States officials believe. An internal...

Supplies of speciality metals like lithium, neodymium and indium could become restricted unless recycling rates improve. That's the message from the first two of six reports prepared to assess metal supply sustainability for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). 'Scientists should anticipate the possibility that they may not have the whole periodic table to work with in future,' says Thomas Graedel, who led the Global Metal Flows Working Group that compiled the studies.  The report series won't deliver overall supply and demand projections until nearer to the 2012 Rio Earth Summit. Nevertheless Graedel, who is also director of Yale University's Center for Industrial Ecology...

When you really need something, it's natural to worry about running out of it. Peak oil has been a global preoccupation since the 1970s, and the warnings get louder with each passing year. Environmentalists emphasize the importance of placing limits on consumption of fossil fuels, but haven't been successful in encouraging people to consume less energy—even with the force of law at their backs. But maybe they're going about it all wrong, looking for solutions in the wrong places. Economists Lucas Bretschger and Sjak Smulders argue that the decisive question isn't to focus directly on preserving the resources we already...

Just over a year ago, and spurred by an article in Time, I wrote a post on the possible global supply of lithium, which is used in renewable batteries, and a major choice for use in the batteries of electric vehicles, such as the Chevy Volt. Since the story has acquired more recent interest this week, and with new information, it is worth re-visiting the topic. I began the original post by noting that our first introduction to these batteries was in our role as an Explosives Lab when we found out - in a series of experiments a long...