Massive lithium discovery in California could be boon for US supply
A massive Lithium deposit has been discovered underneath the Salton Sea in California. FOX Business Correspondent Max Gorden discusses the plans for extraction and concerns over the environmental impact.
A massive lithium find in California's Salton Sea region could help boost domestic supplies of the mineral, which plays a critical role in production of electric vehicle (EV) batteries.
The Salton Sea region of Southern California is currently home to significant geothermal electricity generation. An analysis by a California state commission in 2020 found that the region's lithium concentration in the 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 resources to produce over 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 vehicles on U.S. roads.
The evaporation of portions of the Salton Sea has cut into the region's tourism economy in recent decades, and adding lithium mining to its emerging geothermal energy generation could be a needed boost for the area. However, some have raised environmental concerns about the project.
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California's Salton Sea region has seen the growth of geothermal energy production, which has led to the discovery of massive lithium reserves. (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
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