The U.S. Department of Energy has made its second major lithium discovery this year, both of which promise to make the country self-sufficient in the critical battery metal for decades.
- The DoE has discovered a massive lithium deposit beneath California’s Salton Sea, holding an estimated 18 million tons of lithium.
- It is believed to be the world’s largest supply of lithium beneath California’s Salton Sea.
- With expected technology advances, the Salton Sea region’s total resources could produce more than 3,400 kilotons of lithium, worth up to $540 billion and enough to support over 375 million batteries for electric vehicles (EV)—more than the total number of vehicles currently on U.S. roads.
Key facts about lithium
- Lithium is currently produced from hard rock or brine mines.
- Australia is the world’s biggest supplier, with production from hard rock mines.
- Chile holds the world’s largest lithium reserves and is the world’s second-largest producer.
- Argentina, Chile and China mainly produce it from salt lakes.
- The salt flats of the so-called lithium triangle—made up of Argentina, Chile, and Bolivia—contain roughly half the world’s known lithium
