By Lena Babaeva Coradini

What metal has experienced a surge in popularity recently?  Why its lithium of course!  With the interest and work increasing in electric vehicles, the world focuses on lithium:

Toyota Tsusho, the material supplier for the big Japanese automaker, announced a joint venture in January with the Australian miner Orocobre to develop a $100 million lithium project in Argentina. That deal came only days after Magna International, the Canadian car parts company that is helping develop a battery-powered version of the Ford Focus, announced that it was investing $10 million in a small Canadian lithium firm that also has projects in Argentina.

They were the latest in a series of deals and projects announced over the last year, reflecting a new urgency among companies to assure themselves future supplies of the metal.

The present issue though is that no one will know how big the movement for electric vehicles and other users of the metal will be in the future, but with current introductions of the Leaf by Nissan and other electric vehicles in the U.S., it appears that the demand will certainly rise.