California's lithium rush - 12th January 2022

Companies are rushing to California in search of the valuable metal, lithium. They've moved to the Salton Sea Lake area to find the best way to mine lithium while being eco-friendly. Lithium's needed for rechargeable battery production.

Currently, the majority of lithium in the US comes from overseas. However, Controlled Thermal Resources is one company that wants to stop this. It's digging a 2,300 metre well to mine the lithium. Jim Turner is the chief operating officer.

Jim Turner: "There's not too many lithium sites that are known in North America, but there's a few. This is definitely the largest known here in North America. My guess is this will end up being the largest lithium production site globally once we fully develop it."

Fossil fuels are becoming unpopular and many countries are demanding electric vehicles. This has increased the need for lithium and is increasing the market size.

Jim Turner: "The lithium produced from here will go into electric vehicle batteries. And so our lithium product will end up for the most part with EVs made in the US might be some made in Europe."

Salton Sea Lake was a popular attraction for Hollywood superstars and spectators of boat racing. However, the lake and its surroundings have started drying up because of climate change. This has released dangerous dust which has caused the most cases of breathing problems in the US.

Researchers run regular checks on the lake to make sure lithium mining doesn't worsen the situation. Charles Diamond is a member of the research team.

Charles Diamond: "As far as hazards are concerned, I don't know of really any hazards that exist specific to this type of lithium exploration that don't already exist for geothermal power production."