Introduction Because of its high reactivity, lithium metal is not found in its native state. The main sources of lithium are brine wells when subjected to evaporation as well as igneous rocks such as spodumine, lepidolite, and petalite. The name lithium comes from the Greek word ‘lithos’ meaning stone. Its discovery is generally attributed to Johan A. Arfvedson, who first identified it in 1817. Lithium metal was isolated by Sir Humphrey Davy and William Thomas Brande, and R. W. E. Bunsen and A. Maththiessen, in 1855 by the electrolysis of lithium chloride.