This Poisonous, Drying U.S. Lake Would possibly per chance per chance also Turn Into the ‘Saudi Arabia of Lithium’ | WSJ

– Underneath theSalton Sea's toxic lake bed is an estimated 18 millionmetric tons of lithium suspended in hot geothermal brine. (brine splashing) That's enough to power morethan 375 million EV batteries. California's largest lake has the world's biggestconcentration of lithium in geothermal brine, which could make the USself-sufficient in the mineral.

It's a revival for the area, which was a thriving vacationspot until the 1960s. – The miraclesea in the desert, the Salton Sea. – But today, the shrinking lake is an environmental disaster, leaving behind toxic dust in the surroundingdesert community, still. – The Salton Sea region.

Presents a once-in-a-generationopportunity. – But seizingthat opportunity isn't easy. Getting to all that lithiumrequires new tech, like this, to stand up against thecorrosive conditions. At stake is hundreds of billionsof dollars worth of lithium and thousands of white-collar jobs. Here's how companies areracing to develop new ways to extract lithium from this toxic lake, and whether that will providea lifeline or be a threat.

To the surrounding Imperial Valley. (dramatic music) – This resource is reallyhigh up there in terms of both sustainabilityand scalability as well. – David Deak leadsstrategy and development at EnergySource Minerals, one of three companies competing to extractlithium at the Salton Sea. Inside this non-descriptshipping container.

Is the pilot version of the tech that could give this area new life. Part of what makes the Salton Sea unique is its huge reserve of geothermal brine, a mix of superheated saltywater rich in minerals. That geothermal brine hasbeen mined for green energy since the 1980s, but companies are now eyeing something even more valuablethan steam power, lithium.

EnergySource is developing aless resource-intensive way to extract it from the brine. Right now, most of the world's lithium is extracted fromAustralia's open pit mines or South America's evaporation ponds. Both processes are water-intensive and can create a lot ofcontamination and waste. The new method is called DirectLithium Extraction or DLE, and it adds just a few steps.

To the geothermal energy generation already happening at the Salton Sea. Once that geothermal energy is pulled out, the brine is depositedback into the reservoir. – But what we're working on is a process for which weintercept that return process where we will then extract lithium and turn that into product. – Lithiumextraction begins here,.

Where brine is passed to this machine full of plastic tubes and columns carrying what's called an absorbent. – This is our secret sauce. The way it works is that it's a very highsurface area material. Think of it as sort of like a sponge that's selectively absorbinglithium and nothing else. – In those same columns,.

The company strips the lithium out of the absorbent with water. – We are comfortably extracting over 90% of the lithium that comes out. – That's double whatcan be extracted from brine using more traditional methodslike evaporation ponds. The final product is this clear solution, purified lithium chloride. – We can further processthis into a solid product.

That we can package andsend out to battery makers and EV producers. – The companyplans to start building the commercial facility in 2024, with commercial lithiumproduction beginning in 2027. Once it's built, EnergySourcesource expects to process 20,000 metric tons of lithium every year, enough for half a millionEV batteries alone. Ford has already signed onto buy some of that supply.

While EnergySource isgearing up to go commercial, there's competition on its heels. Berkshire HathawayEnergy currently operates 10 of the 11 geothermalplants around the Salton Sea. – They own most of the resource and they will dominate, eventually the productionof lithium down here. – Meanwhile, a third player, Controlled Thermal Resourcesis working to catch up.

Unlike the other two companies, CTR doesn't currently own oroperate a geothermal plant. But in January, it began construction on the first phase ofits lithium facilities, which will produce 25,000 tons of lithium product every year, that's more than four times the amount the US currently produces. All this interest hasturned the area into.

– What we refer to as theSaudi Arabia of lithium. – Right now,the US makes less than 1% of the world's total lithium supply, most of which is mined in Nevada. The Salton Sea's reserves could transform domestic production. They are estimated tocontain enough lithium to ultimately produce nearlyhalf of current global output. – It is used in everythingfrom electric vehicle batteries.

To battery storage to cell phones, and so the opportunity to potentially recoverlithium in such a high volume is of particular interest. – It's takenyears to get to this point, and it will still be years before any lithium productionbegins at a commercial scale. – This type of brine thatcomes from this region, it is highly mineralized.

Many elements of the periodic table you will find in thisbrine and it's very hot, which means that it couldbe quite a corrosive brine. A lot of this tubing andprocessing is done with plastics or with special non-corrosive metals. – The drying Salton Sea itself, makes extraction even more difficult. – 10 years ago, the water wasup to the edge of the volcano and it's now recededoff into the distance.

– Since 1999, the Salton Sea has shrunk by more than 30%. The receding shorelines fueled by drought, have decimated the region's ecosystems and exposed more than 30,000acres of toxic lake bed. – The current sea, whichformed in the early 1900s, has been maintained largelydue to agricultural runoff, but associated with thatrunoff are pesticides and fertilizer components.

It's this material that gets airborne and generates dust that creates asthma problems in children and the elderly. – That toxicdust is laced with bacteria, heavy metals, and carcinogens like DDT, threatening the communityand growing workforce that a multi-billiondollar lithium industry would bring to the region.

– In order for the lithium economy to be successful down here, they need to have a healthy workforce. You don't wanna bring in a workforce that's gonna have chronicasthma all the time. – Some ImperialValley residents are concerned lithium extraction could worsen the region's environmental issues. Right now, it's unclear.

How operations couldaffect health problems. That's why some communityleaders like Luis Olmedo, say, “The lithium industryshould spearhead efforts to tackle the toxic dust.” Olmedo is the executive directorof Comite Civico del Valle, a nonprofit that advocatesfor environmental justice. – We're predominantlycommunities of Color, farm-working communities,low-income communities. Part of our role is to make sure.

That there are fair andequitable negotiations. – ImperialCounty has the highest unemployment rate in California, and nearly a quarter ofchildren live in poverty. But jobs in the lithium industry promise a new way of making ends meet. Imperial County estimatesthe industry could bring as many as 81,000 jobs to the region. While the lithium industrycould bring an economic boost,.

Water use remains a concern in a region that receives just threeinches of rainfall each year. – The main use of waterin the Imperial Valley is for agriculture. If we wanna have a successfullithium industry here, we've gotta make sure some of that water getsused for lithium processing. – In January,Comite Civico del Valle filed a notice of intent to sue the County.

After it approved the plans for Controlled Thermal Resources'new lithium facilities. Overuse of Colorado Riverwater and industry pollution, were two of the key complaints. In a statement, the County said, that, “Since the beginningof Lithium Valley, it has worked to guaranteethat residents and communities directly benefit from the economic and environmental advancementsthese developments herald.”.

As momentum for lithium extraction builds, community leaders want to see written agreements from companies on their community commitments. – We want them to beable to do business here, but everyone in this community that is doing business here needs to do their own investments and making sure theymitigate their pollution.

– In a step towards ensuring the community benefits, Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation allowing Imperial County to tax every metric tonof lithium produced. The majority of the revenue is slated for Salton Sea restoration and community benefit projects. Amid the promises of a lithium gold rush,.

The future of the dwindlingSalton Sea remains less certain. While there are plans in place to tackle some of the region's toxic dust, they aren't a long-term fix. – We have the greatest economicopportunity in our history, to be able to turn upenough supply of lithium for this entire country and the world, but we can only accomplish success if we have mitigation, ifwe have community benefits.

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