Your number is off by eight orders of magnitude. Lithium is one of the most common elements on the planet. Earths crust contains ~0.002-0.006% Li by weight, or

Your number is off by eight orders of magnitude. Lithium is one of the most common elements on the planet. Earths crust contains ~0.002-0.006% Li by weight, or 1,220,000,000 million tonnes if you use the low estimate. You seem to have confused the concept of "known reserves" - the 88M number is deposits that we've paid to map out and know exactly where they are. As current deposits empty out, companies will invest in mapping out others.