Petalite

Petalite is a lithium aluminum silicate mineral, usually colorless or pale, found chiefly in lithium-rich pegmatites. It is mined as an ore of lithium.

Lithium: Lithium is a soft, low-density alkali metal and the lightest solid element. Lithium is the economically valuable element hosted in petalite.
Pegmatite: Pegmatite is an exceptionally coarse-grained igneous rock, commonly formed from volatile-rich residual magma. Lithium-rich pegmatites provide the principal geological setting for petalite.
Lithium mining: Lithium mining is the extraction of lithium-bearing materials from deposits for industrial use. Petalite is one of the hard-rock minerals mined to supply lithium.
Bikita Minerals: Bikita Minerals is a lithium and caesium mining operation in Zimbabwe. Its pegmatite deposits are known for petalite as well as other lithium minerals.
Aluminum silicate: Aluminum silicates are compounds built from aluminum, silicon, and oxygen. Petalite belongs to this broad chemical family, with lithium included in its structure.
Fractional crystallization: Fractional crystallization is the separation of early-forming crystals from magma as it cools. It concentrates lithium and other incompatible elements in residual pegmatite-forming melts.
Lithium-ion battery: A lithium-ion battery stores and releases energy through reversible lithium-ion movement between electrodes. Battery production drives much of the demand for lithium recovered from ores such as petalite.
Karibib: Karibib is a town in Namibia near granitic pegmatite deposits. The area is associated with petalite-bearing pegmatites.
Silicate mineral: A silicate mineral contains silicon–oxygen tetrahedra as a major structural component. Petalite's framework is built from linked silicon–oxygen and aluminum–oxygen units.
Metasomatism: Metasomatism is chemical alteration of rock by fluids that add or remove elements. Fluid-driven alteration can transform petalite into other lithium minerals.

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