Lithium found under California’s Salton Sea could be a boon to the US supply
A large deposit of Lithium has been discovered under the Salton Sea in California. FOX Business reporter Max Gorden discusses the plans for the rollout and concerns about the environmental impact.
A large lithium discovery in California’s Salton Sea region could help boost domestic mineral supply, which plays an important role in production electric vehicle (EV) batteries..
The Salton Sea region of Southern California is currently home to significant geothermal power generation. A 2020 California state commission analysis found that the region’s concentration of lithium in geothermal brines that are a byproduct of electricity generation is believed to be the highest in the world.
The Department of Energy announced in November 2023 that an analysis by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found that the Salton Sea region could have the resources to produce more than 3,400 kilotons (or 3.4 million tons) of lithium – enough to support more than 375 million EV batteries . For context, that’s more than the total number of cars on US roads.
Evaporation of parts of the Salton Sea has disrupted the region’s economy in recent decades, and added. lithium mining in its production of geothermal energy can be a necessary boost in the area. However, some have expressed environmental concerns about the project.
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California’s Salton Sea region has seen an increase in thermal energy production, which has led to the discovery of large lithium storage facilities. (David McNew/Getty Images/Getty Images)
FOX Business Network’s Max Gorden spoke with Rod Colwell, CEO of Controlled Thermal Resources (CTR), which is moving forward with a project to mine and process lithium in the region while powered by geothermal energy.
The CTR project has received investment from automakers GM and Stellantis, and other companies also have lithium plants planned for the region.
“I would say, think back to maybe the early days of big oil,” Colwell said. “This is a very similar, clean and green process.”
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Controlled Thermal Resources is planning a lithium processing facility in the Salton Sea region. (David McNew/Getty Images/Getty Images)
Two advocacy groups, Earthworks and the Comite Civico del Valle, have filed a petition to slow down the project in order to enforce stricter safety regulations. environmental impact regarding water use and handling of hazardous products from lithium production.
“It will set an example of how these projects move forward, whether they follow the highest environmental protection and respect for communities,” said Jared Maimark of Earthwork about the project and the case.
The case is still ongoing, and the hearing is scheduled for Thursday.
The legal process at play lithium mines in California it comes as a recent analysis by the US Geological Survey found that the Smackover Formation in Arkansas could hold between 5 and 19 million tons of lithium reserves.
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Geothermal brines in the Salton Sea region of California are believed to contain the highest amount of lithium in the world. (Jeff Gritchen/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images/Getty Images)
The US currently imports more than 25% of its lithium. The USGS report noted that from 2019 to 2022, US lithium imports it came mainly from Argentina (51%) and Chile (43%), with much smaller amounts imported from China (3%) and Russia (2%).
Australian lithium mines were the most productive in the world, followed by Chile and China, according to the USGS report. The largest lithium reserves in the world were Chile with 9.3 million tons, Australia with 6.2 million tons, Argentina with 3.6 million tons and China with 3 million tons, according to the January 2024 report. In comparison, the reserves of -US was 1.1 million tons of lithium.
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Estimated lithium resources in the report were 14 million tons in the US, below Bolivia’s 23 million tons and Argentina’s 22 million tons, although that figure exceeded Chile’s 11 million tons, 8.7 million tons in Australia and China’s 6.8 million tonnes.
The USGS report noted that worldwide, the final use of lithium is batteries (87%), followed by ceramics and glass (4%), lubricants (2%), air treatment (1%), mold mold flux powders ongoing. (1%), treatment (1%) and other uses (4%).
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