https://www.sott.net/article/490828-Fools-Gold-may-be-valuable-after-all

‘Fool’s Gold’ may be valuable after all
We used to make fun of Fool's Gold. Now, it might fuel the future.

Fool's gold or #iron-pyrite — a common mineral that resembles its precious counterpart — may be more valuable than scientists originally thought, as it has been found to be abundant in #lithium.

Lithium is vital to the future development of green energy. This is because the material, which is highly reactive, is a key element in batteries — including of the kind used in electric vehicles (hence the name, lithium ion batteries).

Due to this, demand for lithium is soaring. The precious resource can be extracted from brines — and also mined in select locations including #Argentina, #Australia, #Bolivia, #Chile and #China. But scientists have now found it in an apparently undervalued #mineral.

The strange discovery was made after a team of researchers from West Virginia University set out to see whether lithium could be extracted with alternative industrial operations.

They found an abundance of lithium in the pyrite minerals in shale — a sedimentary rock made from mud.