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Events/Rush · 2016

2016 to 2023 lithium boom

Rush, 2016 to 2023, Australia.

What happened

USGS records the US annual average battery-grade lithium carbonate price rising from 8,650 dollars a tonne in 2016 to 15,000 in 2017. Prices later peaked in 2022 and fell in 2023. Western Australia's lithium sales rose from 8.0 billion Australian dollars in 2021-22 to 20.9 billion in 2022-23.1,2,3,4

Why it matters

It reshaped Western Australian mining and exploration.1,2,3,4

How this rush compares

2016 to 2023 lithium boom

  • Price start (2016)8,650 US dollars per tonne, lithium carbonate annual average1USGS MCS 2020 (US large-contract price)
  • Price 2017 (2017)15,000 US dollars per tonne, lithium carbonate annual average1USGS MCS 2020
  • Price trough (2020)8,600 US dollars per tonne, lithium carbonate annual average2USGS MCS 2024 series
  • Price peak (2022)68,100 US dollars per tonne, lithium carbonate annual average2USGS MCS 2024. The MCS 2023 edition gave 37,000 for 2022 with a different price source.
  • Price end (2023)46,000 US dollars per tonne, lithium carbonate annual average2USGS MCS 2024. WATC gives US$45,363 from S&P/Benchmark data.
  • Spodumene spot 2021 (2021)450 to 2300 US dollars per tonne (6% Li2O, c.i.f. China), January to November5USGS MCS 2022
  • Spodumene spot 2022 (2022)4900 to 5800 US dollars per tonne (6% Li2O, c.i.f. China), January to November6USGS MCS 2023
  • Spodumene spot 2023 (2023)6000 to 2500 US dollars per tonne (6% Li2O, Australia f.o.b.), January to November2USGS MCS 2024
  • Wa lithium sales before (2022)8 billion Australian dollars3Financial year 2021-22
  • Wa lithium sales peak (2023)20.9 billion Australian dollars3Financial year 2022-23
  • Wa lithium exports (2023)18.4 billion Australian dollars (up 52 per cent)3Calendar year 2023
  • World lithium supply (2023)180,000 tonnes of lithium content (from 35,000 in 2013)3WATC; USGS gives 146,000 for 2022 and about 180,000 for 2023
  • Australia mine production86,000 tonnes of lithium content (2023 estimate; 58,800 in 2018)2USGS MCS 2024 and MCS 2020
  • Australia mineral operations among majority of output4 to 6 operations, varying by year (6 in 2019, 5 in 2020, 4 in 2021, 6 in 2022)6Count of Australian mineral operations USGS names as making up most world output; it is not a count of new mines. Opening dates for new mines were not sourced.
  • Capital raised example (2022)100,041,906 Australian dollars before costs (Leo Lithium IPO)7One company only. No ASX or government sector total was found; left as a gap.
  • Mine restart (2022)Wodgina trains 1 and 2 restart after care and maintenance3

California gold rush

  • Discovery1848-01-248Marshall at Sutter's mill
  • Population before rush (1848)14,000 people (non-Indian)9State population estimate when gold was found
  • Population end 1849 (1849)100,000 people9"nearly 100,000"
  • Population 1852 (1852)250,000 people9"some 250,000"
  • Census population (1850)92,597 people101850 US census count
  • Gold recovered (1855)750,000 pounds10Estimated recovered 1848 to 1855. About 340 tonnes at 0.4536 kg per pound (computed).
  • Value recovered then (1900)25,000,000,000 US dollars, modern equivalent9Mother Lode and Klamath fields together, "modern-day equivalent of more than $25 billion" by the turn of the century
  • News reached san francisco1848-0310Rumours reached San Francisco in March 1848
  • Population after 50 years (1900)1,485,053 people10California census 1900

Klondike gold rush

  • Discovery1896-08-1611Parks Canada; staking on 17 August per its history text
  • News to outside world1897-0712SS Portland reached Seattle with over a ton of gold
  • People who set out (1900)100,000 people12Set out for the Klondike 1897 to 1900 ("more than")
  • People who came (1900)40,000 people12"No more than 40,000" reached Dawson City
  • Canada gold value before (1897)1,240,000 pounds sterling (assumed)13Canada national gold yield, ABS table; Klondike share not separated
  • Canada gold value peak (1900)5,742,000 pounds sterling (assumed)13Canada national gold yield, ABS table
  • World gold value (1900)52,086,000 pounds sterling (assumed)13World gold yield 1900, ABS table
  • Canada share of world gold (1900)11 percent13Computed from the two ABS values (5.742 / 52.086)

Witwatersrand gold rush

  • Discovery1886-0714Harrison, Langlaagte; his affidavit date is not on the opened page
  • Camp population (1886)3,000 people14About 3,000 inhabitants by August 1886, mostly White
  • Public diggings proclaimed (1886)9 farms14Proclaimed 8 September 1886
  • Towns founded (1886)1 town14Johannesburg named 3 October and declared 4 October 1886
  • Transvaal gold value (1897)11,654,000 pounds sterling (assumed)13ABS table, Transvaal
  • Transvaal gold value war low (1900)1,481,000 pounds sterling (assumed)13Output collapsed during the South African War
  • Transvaal gold value later (1909)30,988,000 pounds sterling (assumed)13ABS table, Transvaal
  • Transvaal share of world gold (1909)33.7 percent13Computed: 30.988 / 91.91

Story cards

Around the same time

  1. 2016 to 2023 lithium boom

    It reshaped Western Australian mining and exploration.1,2,3,4

  2. Leo Lithium lists on the ASX

    One dated example of capital raised in the boom.7,15

  3. Lithium prices peak

    The two USGS figures show how price series differ between sources.2,4,6

  4. Wodgina lithium mine restarts

    Part of the 2022 restart wave.3,16

  5. Australia mines 92,000 t of lithium (contained)

    USGS records 92,000 t of lithium content in Australian mine output in 2025.17

Open the full timeline

Where next

Mines

Located inPilgangooraA mine from the same area and mineral story: Pilgangoora.1

Events

Led toLithium prices peakPrices rose from 8,650 dollars a tonne in 2016 and peaked in 2022.6

Trade routes

Shipped throughAustralian spodumene to ChinaAustralia exported 2.7 Mt of spodumene in 2022. China took 99 per cent.18

Sources

  1. Mineral Commodity Summaries 2020: Lithium US Geological Survey
  2. Mineral Commodity Summaries 2024: Lithium US Geological Survey
  3. WA Battery and Critical Minerals Profile, March 2024 Western Australian Treasury Corporation
  4. Pilbara (item Q1362696), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  5. Mineral Commodity Summaries 2022: Lithium US Geological Survey
  6. Mineral Commodity Summaries 2023: Lithium US Geological Survey
  7. Condensed consolidated financial report, half-year to 30 Jun 2022 (ASX announcement 13 Sep 2022) Leo Lithium Limited via ASX
  8. The California Gold Rush (California National Historic Trail) US National Park Service
  9. Gold Rush Overview California State Parks
  10. History and the Census: The 1848 California Gold Rush (Jan 2018) US Census Bureau
  11. Discovery Claim National Historic Site Parks Canada
  12. Skagway: Gateway to the Klondike (Teaching with Historic Places) US National Park Service
  13. Year Book Australia 1911, gold chapter Australian Bureau of Statistics
  14. Discovery of the Gold in 1884 South African History Online
  15. Perth (item Q3183), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  16. Wodgina mine (item Q2587675), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  17. Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Lithium U.S. Geological Survey
  18. 2022 Minerals Yearbook: Australia [Advance Release] U.S. Geological Survey

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Cover photos from Wikimedia Commons: Super Pit, Kalgoorlie by Kgbo, CC BY-SA 4.0. Pictures: Salar de Atacama, Chile, NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Space Systems, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team (Public domain (NASA media, no copyright)).