The extraction of lithium from spodumene.

Although lithium occurs more commonly in the earth's crust than lead or tin, it is one of the least known of the lesser used metals. Demand for it prior to World War l was almost nil, but with the great technological advances that always accompany warfare it fast became important in numerous applications. Lithium was first discovered (1) by Arfvedsen in Sweden in 1817 while analyzing a sample of petalite – a lithium aluminum silicate. It was named after the Greek "litheos", meaning "stony", because it was thought to occur only in minerals