SALTON SEA, Calif. — An October storm of noxious dust sweeps across the desert, turning the sky sepia and choking out residents. Like water bodies across the West, the 340-square-mile saline lake known as the Salton Sea is drying up as drought, fueled by climate change, further dwindles its inflow from the Colorado River basin. As the lake evaporates, its solution of pesticides, chemicals and heavy metals grows more concentrated. Winds whip the hazardous lakebed dust into the air, and more children here than anywhere else in California visit emergency rooms or are hospitalized with asthma-relatedillnesses.
It’s an environmental disaster with adecades-long history. But mining companies see something else in the perennially-evaporating Salton Sea: opportunity. They want to harvest the lithium-rich brine from beneath the lake and transform the Imperial Valley into “Lithium Valley.” Except, the technology to mine the lithium safely and efficiently has not been proven, and some residents worry their communities, already suffering environmental destruction and institutional neglect, could become asacrifice zone for the dirty part of greenenergy.
The Salton Sea exists because of industrial meddling with the watershed in the past. More than 100years ago, the Imperial Valley Press, declared the region “the most fertile body of arid land on the continent,” and new settlers began parceling off acres for farming and creating asystem of irrigation to bring their vision to life. The lake was created by accident in 1905 when floods broke ahead gate on this irrigation canal and diverted part of the Colorado River into the basin. Later, Frank Sinatra vacationed there. Before and after that, the Salton Sea served as amilitary test zone. Over time, the flooded valley became increasingly salty, hot and besieged with agricultural run-off and algae blooms, which killed off fish and migratory birds. Evaporation continues to concentrate this toxic co*cktail and stands to steal three-quarters of the sea’s current volume by 2030, intensifying the wind-blown airpollution.
Now, the Salton Sea is thought to hold one of the largest reserves of lithium in the world. If the mineral can be extracted, this region, 120miles east of San Diego, could supply more than athird of the world’s current demand. Three companies — Berkshire Hathaway Renewables, Controlled Thermal Resources and EnergySource — are racing for the chance to mine the increasingly valuable material from the sea’sbrine.
The demand for lithium is being driven in part by the Inflation Reduction Act, which aims to create adomestic battery supply chain. The Biden administration set agoal to make half of all new vehicles zero-emissions by 2030 and has invoked the Defense Production Act to secure U.S. production of the needed minerals, includinglithium.
“We need to end our long-term reliance on China and other countries for inputs that will power the future,” President Joe Biden said at aMarch press conference. The Inflation Reduction Act subsidizes the goal with a $7,500 tax credit for electric vehicle buyers, but Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) made sure these credits can only be applied if the vehicle batteries use minerals from the United States (or acountry with aU.S. free tradeagreement).
Currently, however, the United States mines only 1% of the world’s lithium, from one mine in Western Nevada. Meeting the administration’s goals depends on expanding domesticl*thium.
While lithium is considered crucial for aworldwide green-energy transition, that doesn’t mean the mining process itself is “green” or sustainable. In Chile’s salt flats, where nearly aquarter of the global lithium supply is extracted, companies use amethod called evaporative brine mining. The method involves pumping mineral-rich water into ponds, where evaporation increases the concentration of lithium. The process uses immense amounts of scarce groundwater and can contaminate local water basins. Chile remains governed by Pinochet-era rules, which privatized minerals and water and have allowed mining companies in Salar de Atacama to consume 65% of the region’s water supply.
Indigenous groups, such as the Lickan Antay, consider water and brine to be sacred. In 2019, after aChilean economic development agency encouraged the Sociedad Quimica yMinera de Chile to triple its lithium extraction, Indigenous protestors blocked access to theplants.
Bringing this industry home presents similar issues. In the United States, 79% of lithium deposits are within 35miles of Native American reservations and tribal lands. At Thacker Pass, Nev. — site of aproposed hard-rock lithium mine — members of the local Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe have opposed the project, which they claim sits atop ancestral remains of tens of Northern Paiute that the U.S. government massacred there in 1865. The mining company, Lithium Americas Corp., recently entered into acommunity benefits agreement with the tribe, but some members continue to push back. Member Shelley Harjo put it this way in an op-ed: “Are we willing to sacrifice sacred sites, health and internal balance for short term economicgains?”
In the Salton Sea area, nine different Native tribes occupied the basin, including the acres now submerged by water, for thousands of years. Today, the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indian reservation sits just north of the geothermal plants where lithium is already being extracted. In addition to lithium, the brine beneath the Salton Sea contains hazardous elements — including arsenic, barium and lead — that some fear could contaminate the broader environment. At an online meeting of the Lithium Valley Commission, Faron Owl — a member of the Fort Yuma Quechan Tribe, whose reservation lies to the southeast of the Salton Sea — raised concerns about the mining plans. “Toxic wastes, the gas emissions, the pollution, are being put aside for the lithium demand,” he said, while the state and federal governments ignore the “underlying concerns of land, air, andwater.”
The three companies vying to massively expand lithium mining at the Salton Sea claim they will use anew process called direct lithium extraction (DLE), by which lithium is drawn from underground brine using filters, beads, solvents or sorbents. Proponents of DLE say it saves time and money and is less environmentally damaging than evaporation brine mining. Ten years ago, Simbol Materials built the first demonstration plant at the site, but it folded after afailed acquisition by Tesla. More recently, acompany called Lilac Solutions—aided by millions of dollars from Jeff Bezos, Michael Bloomberg and Bill Gates — tried its hand at DLE in the Salton Sea. This August, the company deemed the hot, toxic brine too difficult to handle for both equipment and workers, calling the region a “graveyard for lithiumextraction.”
To this day, DLE technology has not been proven atscale.
“Maybe it is alesser evil, but we need to know the negative impacts,” says Mariela Loera, of nearby Coachella. As policy advocate for the Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability, Loera has listened to residents’ concerns about lithium mining since before the official meetings of the Lithium Valley Commission. She says community members are worried about the environmental impacts of alithium boom, such as air pollution, waste streams and water usage, and they want apublic health assessment to guide mitigationefforts.
Adriana Torres Ceja, aformer resident of the Salton Sea community of North Shore and aLeadership Council intern, is skeptical of the “promises for going green” from the industry. She says this vision feels in tension with the current reality in some local fence-line communities that lack clean drinking water and stable electricity: “Why don’t we fix those problems first before creating new ones?” She adds, “It doesn’t seem like the climate is the number one thing on [the companies’] mind. To me, it sounds like it’s businessprofits.”
For its part, the Lithium Valley Commission, a14-person body tasked with analyzing the impacts of mining lithium and taking public comment, has put forth 44 initial recommendations, most of which urge the state to fund environmental oversight. The report also mentions incorporating reuse and recycling of materials, as it’s possible to recover lithium and other critical minerals at rates above 90%, thus reducing the drive for moreextraction.
Even if DLE technology works as promised, Reuters reports the plant owned by Controlled Thermal Resources would use 10 tons of water for every ton of lithium produced. Some residents worry this water use could accelerate the sea’s decline. Asked about these concerns, Katherine Burnworth, mayor pro tem of the nearby city of Imperial and an “environmental scientist by day,” claims that geothermal plants generate water from the leftover condensate that goes into their cooling towers. Additionally, she says, upgrades the plants have made to local irrigation systems have helped conserve water that otherwise would have been lost toevaporation.
Burnworth sees expanded lithium mining as amuch-needed economic engine for the area. The Imperial Valley, where the population is 82% Latino, suffers from an unemployment rate four times greater than the rest of the state. “We will do whatever we can to support industry,” she says. But the valley has weathered aboom and bust of green energy investment before. “When the solar industry came, it created temporary jobs and it took alot of farmland out of production,” she says. The construction jobs that built power plants and solar farms failed to stick around. “Our communities are adamant that the same mistake doesn’t happenagain.”
As the expansion of lithium mining in the area becomes more likely, many residents have shifted from resistance against extraction to agitating for community benefits. Luis Olmedo, of the community health and environmental justice organization Comite Civico del Valle (“Civic Committee of the Valley”), wants to see the industry’s promises — about jobs, environmental impacts and profit sharing — backed by enforceable documents. “These are public dollars, public minerals in the public domain,” he says. “We want to make sure that they’re not interpreted as just corporatewelfare.”
He hopes the revenues reaped from lithium mining can be used for much-needed infrastructure improvements, such as hospitals and community centers, or even to buy back water rights for residents. Part of this, Olmedo says, can be accomplished through the kind of legally binding community benefit agreements suggested by the Lithium Valley Commission, and through California’s new lithium tax—which was fought by Controlled Thermal Resources and EnergySource, but approved by Gov. Gavin Newsom inJune.
Despite the challenges, Olmedo says the Salton Sea community hopes to be part of ajust transition. “We’ve been left behind,” he says. “And now we’re being seen as thesolution.”
FAQs
Why is lithium extraction bad for the environment? Any type of resource extraction is harmful to the planet. This is because removing these raw materials can result in soil degradation, water shortages, biodiversity loss, damage to ecosystem functions and an increase in global warming.
Is the Salton Sea a good source of lithium? ›
The Salton Sea, it turns out, is rich with lithium, an element that has taken center stage in the world's transition to clean energy and its ever-growing demand for batteries.
Who is going to mine the lithium from the Salton Sea? ›
Three companies — Berkshire Hathaway Renewables, Controlled Thermal Resources and EnergySource — are racing for the chance to mine the increasingly valuable material from the sea's brine. The demand for lithium is being driven in part by the Inflation Reduction Act, which aims to create a domestic battery supply chain.
Does toxic lake have enough lithium? ›
This toxic lake has enough lithium to supply US electric vehicles for decades. The "brine" beneath this remote Californian lake could provide more lithium than any source on the planet, enough to power all domestic EV car batteries for decades to come. But will the "white gold" rush be all that it promises?
Which is worse for the environment lithium or oil? ›
Lithium mining does have an environmental impact, but it is no worse than oil drilling. This is especially true when you consider the carbon emissions produced from petroleum products during their usage, as compared to lithium-ion batteries that have little to no GHG emissions during their use.
What is the downside of lithium mining? ›
These side effects include: use of large quantities of water and related pollution; potential increase in carbon dioxide emissions; production of large quantities of mineral waste; increased respiratory problems; alteration of the hydrological cycle. Obviously the economic interests at stake are enormous.
Who has the best lithium reserves in the world? ›
Where is lithium available from? With 8 million tons, Chile has the world's largest known lithium reserves. This puts the South American country ahead of Australia (2.7 million tons), Argentina (2 million tons) and China (1 million tons). Within Europe, Portugal has smaller quantities of the valuable raw material.
What are the future plans for the Salton Sea? ›
Plans to save the lake
About an hour's drive from Bombay Beach, on the south side of the Salton Sea, work crews have been building up islands and digging deep ponds that will soon be filled with lake water. This will be a new habitat for wildlife. The project spans six-and-a-half square miles of exposed shoreline.
Who has the largest lithium reserves? ›
Countries With the Largest Lithium Reserves in the World
- Bolivia. Bolivia has the highest identified lithium resources in the world with 20 million tonnes, as per the US Geological Survey data. ...
- Argentina. ...
- United States. ...
- Chile. ...
- Australia. ...
- China. ...
- India. ...
- Germany.
The “limiting factor” is refining lithium, not actually finding it, as no country has a monopoly on deposits, Musk said Wednesday during the electric vehicle giant's investor day.
The mine is a project of Lithium Nevada, LLC - a wholly owned subsidiary of Lithium Americas Corp, whose largest shareholder is the world's largest lithium mining company, Chinese Ganfeng Lithium.
...
Thacker Pass Lithium Mine.
| Location |
|---|
| Thacker Pass Lithium |
| Nevada |
| Country | United States |
| Coordinates | 41°42′30.25″N 118°03′17.12″W |
9 more rowsThe three largest producers of lithium are Australia, Chile and China. The demand for lithium is expected to reach 1.5 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent by 2025 and over 3 million tonnes by 2030.
Is lithium mining worse than oil drilling? ›
Mineral mining certainly creates local adverse environmental impacts, but overall, drilling and refining and transporting oil are worse. Lithium mining can have significant adverse environmental impacts, but there are potential solutions to these problems.
Is there enough lithium for all electric cars? ›
While the world does have enough lithium to power the electric vehicle revolution, it's less a question of quantity, and more a question of accessibility. Earth has approximately 88 million tonnes of lithium, but only one-quarter is economically viable to mine as reserves.
Which is worse mining coal or lithium? ›
As with all mining, there are concerns about lithium mines, but some experts overstate the potential environmental cost while neglecting to mention a big advantage: mining for lithium is much cleaner than mining for coal. Lithium is also much more efficient.
Why is lithium not mined in the US? ›
Because lithium deposits come embedded in other metals and minerals, extracting lithium can be incredibly difficult. More refineries—the plants where raw lithium is processed into a concentrated form of the metal that goes into batteries—need to be built in North America.
Why is mining lithium bad for the earth? ›
The process of extracting lithium consumes significant amounts of water and energy, and lithium mining can pollute the air and water with chemicals and heavy metals. In addition, mining lithium can disrupt wildlife habitats and cause soil erosion, leading to long-term ecological damage.
Are alkaline or lithium batteries worse for the environment? ›
Lithium batteries are also considerably lighter than alkaline batteries and will power your electronics for roughly 7x longer than alkaline. They are, unfortunately, generally more expensive than alkaline but you will not need to replace them as often which is one reason why they are more environmentally friendly.
Is there an alternative to lithium? ›
Aqueous Magnesium Batteries
If it were not for a few key issues, magnesium metal would be an ideal candidate to replace lithium 一 it is the eighth most common element, non-toxic, has a negative electrochemical potential, and has a high capacity thanks to its additional valence electron.
How ethical is lithium mining? ›
Lithium is mined and processed to make it useful. In recent years, there have been reports of unethical activities at lithium mines, such as mistreatment of miners, overuse of freshwater sources and the destruction of local ecosystems.
Though emissions deriving from mining these two elements are lower than those deriving from fossil fuels production, the extraction methods for lithium and cobalt can be very energy intensive – leading to air and water pollution, land degradation, and potential for groundwater contamination.
Where in the US is the most lithium? ›
In northern Nevada, a place called Peehee Mu'huh – or Thacker Pass – is sacred indigenous land and also potentially the largest deposit of lithium in the US.
Who is the largest user of lithium? ›
China's the largest consumer of lithium because of its booming electronics and electric vehicle industries.
What is the 10 year plan for the Salton Sea? ›
The SSMP 10-Year Plan proposes to implement a total of 29,800 acres of dust suppression and aquatic habitat restoration projects around the perimeter of the Salton Sea.
What will happen if the Salton Sea dries up? ›
As the lake dries up, the concentration of salt and chemicals in the remaining water has skyrocketed, triggering a mass die-off of fish and birds, including endangered species. The salty, toxic water that coats the dry lakebed turns it into dust, causing respiratory problems for nearby residents.
Can they fix the Salton Sea? ›
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has agreed to review both short-term and long-term options for restoring the Salton Sea, which could ultimately net billions for major public works to restore the crashing ecosystem of California's largest water body.
Where does Tesla get its lithium? ›
At the end of 2021, Tesla inked a fresh three year lithium supply deal with top lithium producer Ganfeng Lithium (OTC Pink:GNENF,SZSE:002460). The Chinese company will provide products to Tesla for three years starting in 2022.
Who is the largest US lithium producer? ›
Albemarle Corp.
Albemarle is the biggest company on the list and the world's largest lithium producer. Albemarle operates the only active lithium mine in the U.S., located in Silver Peak, Nevada.
Does US have lithium deposits? ›
However, the US is home to what are believed to be the world's largest lithium deposits after those in the so-called Lithium Triangle region in South America. The states of Nevada, North Carolina, and California together host an estimated 4% of the world's lithium reserves.
Which lithium startup is backed by Bill Gates? ›
Bill Gates' investment fund Breakthrough Energy Ventures recently invested $10 million in a seven-person start-up with no revenue and no customers, Mangrove Lithium.
A typical EV battery has about 8 kilograms of lithium, 14 kilograms of cobalt, and 20 kilograms of manganese, although this can often be much more depending on the battery size – a Tesla Model S' battery, for example, contains around 62.6 kg (138 pounds) of lithium.
How many tons of ore does it take to make a lithium battery? ›
To manufacture each EV battery, you must process 25,000 pounds of brine for the lithium 30,000 pounds of ore for the cobalt 5,000 pounds of ore for the nickel, 25,000 pounds of ore for copper Diging up 500,000 pounds of the earth's crust For just - one - battery.
What state has the most lithium? ›
Daranda Hinkey, a member of People of Red Mountain, in Humboldt County, Nev., on July 2, 2022. The planned Thacker Pass lithium mine in northern Nevada, the largest known lithium deposit in the United States, has drawn concerns and protests from environmental groups, Native American tribes and local ranchers.
Who is buying lithium Americas? ›
General Motors Investment Details
31, 2023, Lithium Americas announced a purchase agreement with General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM). The GM deal calls for GM to make a $650 million investment in two separate tranches.
Will Thacker Pass be approved? ›
A federal judge in Nevada on Monday upheld the federal government's approval of the largest proposed lithium mine in the nation, dismissing arguments that the Thacker Pass project would degrade nearby aquifers, air quality, and habitat for the imperiled greater sage grouse.
What is the lowest cost lithium producer in the world? ›
This detailed, 5,000-page study positions ioneer as the world's lowest cost lithium producer with an estimated all-in sustaining cash cost to produce battery grade lithium hydroxide of $US2,510 ($3,830) per tonne.
Who owns the Salton Sea? ›
Who owns the Salton Sea? The land under the Salton Sea is owned almost entirely by three entities. The largest is the Federal Government. The Bureau of Reclamation and the Bureau of Land Management under the Department of the Interior own the lions share.
Is mining lithium worse than fossil fuels? ›
Lithium extraction has adverse impacts on the environment, like any other mineral that we mine for. However, similar to coal and gas, lithium mining can result in soil degradation, water shortages, biodiversity loss, damage to ecosystem functions, air contamination and, overtime, an increase in global warming.
What happens to electric car batteries at end of life? ›
What happens to EV batteries when they are done? When electric batteries are done for EV use (I.e. the capacity rate or performance falls below the needed figures), often the cells are repurposed into other, less intensive applications (generally those that don't require as much itense charge/discharge).
What is the life expectancy of lithium mining? ›
The proposed project spans 17,933 acres that would hold an open-pit mine and a sulfuric acid plant to process lithium from the raw ore. The mine is expected to have a lifespan of at least 46 years.
Electric car Safety
The Lithium-ion battery is combustible and can catch fires, it has power cells that can cause short-circuiting if it is damaged.
How much water is used to produce 1 ton of lithium? ›
Approximately 2.2 million litres of water is needed to produce one ton of lithium. The production of lithium through evaporation ponds uses a lot of water - around 21 million litres per day. Approximately 2.2 million litres of water is needed to produce one ton of lithium.
Are there enough rare earth minerals for electric cars? ›
The world has enough rare earth minerals and other critical raw materials to switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy to produce electricity and limit global warming, according to a new study that counters concerns about the supply of such minerals.
How bad are lithium batteries for the environment? ›
Lithium-ion batteries contain metals such as cobalt, nickel, and manganese, which are toxic and can contaminate water supplies and ecosystems if they leach out of landfills. Additionally, fires in landfills or battery-recycling facilities have been attributed to inappropriate disposal of lithium-ion batteries.
What is the most polluting mining? ›
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Toxics Release Inventory, metal mining is the nation's #1 toxic polluter. Mine waste contains toxic substances like arsenic, mercury, and cadmium that are harmful to public health and fish and wildlife when released into the environment.
Is mining lithium worse than mining coal? ›
As with all mining, there are concerns about lithium mines, but some experts overstate the potential environmental cost while neglecting to mention a big advantage: mining for lithium is much cleaner than mining for coal. Lithium is also much more efficient.
Is lithium mining Ethical? ›
Lithium is mined and processed to make it useful. In recent years, there have been reports of unethical activities at lithium mines, such as mistreatment of miners, overuse of freshwater sources and the destruction of local ecosystems.
