Nevada wildflower

Why is in news? US: Wildlife officials declare 'Nevada wildflower' as endangered species

In the United States, wildlife officials declared a Nevada wildflower endangered at the only place it’s known to exist - on a high-desert ridge where a lithium mine is planned to help meet the growing demand for electric car batteries.

The Fish and Wildlife Service has formally listed Tiehm’s buckwheat and its accompanying area of 910 acres for the 6-inch-tall flower with yellow blooms.

With an estimated remaining population of only about 16,000 plants, the service concluded that Tiehm’s buckwheat is on the brink of extinction.

Federal agencies are prohibited from approving any activity on federal lands that could destroy, modify or adversely affect any listed species’ critical habitat.

The proposed mining and mineral exploration poses the biggest threat to the flower. It's also threatened by road-building, livestock grazing, rodents that eat it, invasive plants and climate change.

But the listing under the Endangered Species Act subjects the mine to its most stringent regulatory requirement to date.

Lithium:

Lithium has become the new 'white gold' as the demand for high performing rechargeable batteries is rising.

It is a soft, silvery-white metal. Under standard conditions, it is the lightest metal and the lightest solid element.

It is highly reactive and flammable, and must be stored in mineral oil.

Lithium is a key element for new technologies and finds its use in ceramics, glass, telecommunication and aerospace industries.

The well-known uses of Lithium are in Lithium ion batteries, lubricating grease, high energy additive to rocket propellants, optical modulators for mobile phones and as convertor to tritium used as a raw material for thermonuclear reactions i.e. fusion.

The Countries with Largest Lithium Reserves is Chile> Australia> Argentina

Lithium in India:

Researchers at the Atomic Minerals Directorate (under India’s Atomic Energy Commission) have estimated lithium reserves of 14,100 tonnes in a small patch of land surveyed in Southern Karnataka’s Mandya district recently. Also to be India’s first ever Lithium deposit site found.

Other Potential Sites in India:

The major mica belts in Rajasthan, Bihar, and Andhra Pradesh.

Pegmatite (igneous rocks) belts in Odisha and Chhattisgarh.

Brines of Sambhar and Pachpadra in Rajasthan, and Rann of Kachchh in Gujarat.