Article published in Knack (7th July 2025) about the importance of Lithium in the production of electric cars
Extracted from the paper published in Dutch
Is there lithium in Belgian subsoil? Last year, the Belgian Geological Survey (Institute of Natural Sciences) published a 144-page atlas with maps of which critical raw materials are in the ground in our country. Lithium is among them.
Sophie Decrée (Institute of Natural Sciences): ‘In the Kempen region, there is spring water with a high lithium content, and also near Havelange there are springs with a slightly elevated lithium content. InEast Belgium, in the Lienne valley near Stavelot, there is lithium in local rock formations. And then lithium has also been identified in clay deposits around Huy.’
Would it make sense to mine lithium there? ‘It is true that there are indications that there is slightly more lithium in the ground in those places than elsewhere,’ says Stijn Dewaele, professor of mineral resources at UGent,’but whether that could mean anything economically? ‘We have no idea about the amount of lithium present in it, nor about its concentration. But suppose it would be better, there is certainly still a problem: lithium is not in our classic mineral from which it is easy to extract.’
The paper and the interview on that subject has been published in the journal Knack. You can retrieve the online document here.
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