A recent study has discovered that a lake in California holds a staggering amount of a highly sought-after element.
The Salton Sea in southern California may appear ordinary on the surface, but beneath it lies a substantial surprise for researchers.
This large lake in California was already known to be located above a lithium reserve.
However, the extent of the lithium deposit beneath the lake was previously unknown.
To uncover this information, the Department of Energy (DOE) funded a study aimed at determining the amount of lithium beneath the Salton Sea.
California Governor Gavin Newsom once referred to the Salton Sea as the ‘Saudi Arabia of lithium mining,’ a statement that the study’s results have now validated.
Initial estimates suggested about four million tons of lithium lay beneath the lake. However, recent findings indicate there could actually be a remarkable 18 million tons of lithium, also known as ‘white gold’ due to its value and appearance.
To put this in perspective, the amount of lithium could power over 382 million electric vehicle batteries.
This discovery makes the Salton Sea the largest lithium reservoir globally.
As of the previous year, the market value for one metric ton of lithium stood at around $29,000. Based on this, the Salton Sea could potentially hold $540 billion worth of lithium.
Michael McKibben, a geochemistry professor at the University of California, Riverside, and one of the 22 authors of the study, remarked, “This is one of the largest lithium brine deposits in the world.”
“This could make the United States completely self-sufficient in lithium and stop importing it through China.”
Industry experts have also recognized the significance of this finding.
Sammy Roth, a climate columnist for the Los Angeles Times, commented on KJZZ radio’s The Show, “It’s been known for a long time that there’s a whole bunch of lithium in this super heated underground pool, sort of deep beneath the the southern end of the Salton Sea.”
Roth further explained, “There have been companies for decades, actually that have been trying to get lithium out of there, and especially in the last decade as electric vehicles and energy storage on the the power grid become such a big need.”
“But this new report from the federal government reveals a truly eye-popping number. They found that there’s potentially enough lithium down there to supply batteries for 382 million electric vehicles, which is more, more vehicles than there are on the road in the United States today.”
“So, if we could get all that lithium, that’d be huge.”