Automakers Hope to Tap Salton Sea Lithium

Demand for lithium is growing rapidly as progressive nations transition decisively to electric vehicles powered by lithium-ion batteries. The rush to electrify the transportation sector is a key strategy in the global effort to defeat climate change, and large batteries are also needed to store intermittent renewable electricity generated by wind turbines and solar panels.

The price of lithium has soared over the past two years as supply has failed to keep up with demand, adding urgency to the global quest for untapped lithium reserves. The Biden Administration is determined to end reliance on foreign supply chains by manufacturing batteries in the United States, using raw materials found closer to home.

Optimism is growing that the U.S. is about to secure a reliable supply of lithium known to exist in the southeast corner of California. The Salton Sea region has one of the largest known reserves, and promising efforts are underway to extract the valuable mineral from the area’s geothermal brine, which is believed to contain the world’s highest concentration of infused lithium.

The California Energy Commission (CEC) estimates that the underground brine half a mile below the Salton Sea floor contains enough lithium to satisfy more than one-third of today’s worldwide lithium demand.

There are currently 10 geothermal power plants operating on the banks of the Salton Sea that pump superheated brine to the surface, harvest the geothermal energy to generate electricity, and then inject the brine back underground. Three different companies have developed new technologies to extract the lithium before the brine is returned to the aquifer, and they all appear confident that their extraction techniques can succeed on a commercial scale.

The extraordinary potential of the region as a source of lithium resulted in the formation of California’s Lithium Valley Commission. Assembly Bill 1657 was passed in 2020, authorizing the CEC to convene a blue-ribbon panel that would study the complex development issues, consult with stakeholders, and make policy recommendations to the legislature. The 14-member panel held its first meeting in February of 2021 and released a draft report of its findings in September 2022.

The upbeat report envisions a thriving economic development zone dedicated to lithium-ion battery manufacturing that would rival the success of Silicon Valley, revitalizing one of the most economically depressed regions of California. A tax on recovered lithium could generate substantial revenue for the restoration of the Salton Sea’s struggling ecosystem, which is heavily polluted, and new geothermal power plants could theoretically deliver six times the current capacity, increasing California’s supply of clean, continuous electricity.

Direct lithium extraction from geothermal brine would also displace two current recovery methods that have significant environmental drawbacks. Australia and China are major lithium producers, relying on hard rock mining that scars landscapes, adversely affects ecosystems, and uses excessive quantities of water and energy. Evaporation ponds are used to extract lithium from brines located in the “Lithium Triangle,” which includes ecologically sensitive regions of Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia. This process is very water intensive and requires thousands of square miles of land, depriving local communities of valuable natural resources.

General Motors and Stellantis already have signed agreements to purchase Salton Sea lithium, and fullscale extraction could be underway within the next five years.