Quote:According to researchers, Arkansas could hold massive deposits of lithium, an essential ingredient in the rechargeable batteries found in cell phones and electric vehicles. The state might be sitting on as much as 19 million tons of the mineral, Science Advances reported.

The scientists say they had “calculated that there are 5.1 to 19 million tons of lithium in Smackover Formation brines in southern Arkansas,” making up “35 to 136 percent of the current US lithium resource estimate.” In a Monday release from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the group explained the origins of that deposit: “the Smackover Formation is a relic of an ancient sea that left an extensive, porous, and permeable limestone geologic unit that extends under parts of Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida.”




The USGS calls lithium a critical mineral that can be obtained from brines or salt flats that evaporate. The International Energy Agency estimates that the demand for lithium could expand by more than 40 times by 2040, The Hill noted.

The article explained how the researchers used a mechanical device that could access “published and newly collected brine lithium concentration data,” to produce “a map of predicted lithium concentrations in Smackover Formation brines across southern Arkansas.”

The results are a combination of the work of both the USGS and the Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment’s Office of the State Geologist, the USGS release states.

“Lithium is a critical mineral for the energy transition, and the potential for increased U.S. production to replace imports has implications for employment, manufacturing and supply-chain resilience. This study illustrates the value of science in addressing economically important issues,” USGS Director David Applegate said in the release.

Link

And progressives will make it either administratively impossible to mine or so cost prohibitive it will sit there for a century.

(10-22-2024 06:53 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  And progressives will make it either administratively impossible to mine or so cost prohibitive it will sit there for a century.

Yep.

Don't waste it on EV batteries. Widespread adoption of EVs is analogous to the superconductors that will revolutionize how we store and transmit electricity. Also fair game to compare them to nuclear fusion reactors being just around the corner...

Democrats want to know why we would mine our own when we can be totally dependent on foreign countries for it.

But if progressives want electric cars because of the gas killing the environment.....

Prog filth will need it for medicinal purposes after Trump wins

(10-23-2024 07:53 AM)shere khan Wrote:  Prog filth will need it for medicinal purposes after Trump wins

there's a reason we called him "kurt no-brain" ...

Either a freak fire will happen to make all the needed land available to mine....
Or, dementia joe will make it a national park, so the Chicoms will still own the market on lithium...

It's starting to look like hydrogen is going to kill the EV. Give it couple more years.

I guess you guys missed the lithium mines that have been popping up in Maine, Nevada, and North Carolina

uhoh.. .Arkansasians.. better be careful when the next Tornado alley comes through your way , now that that this has been discovered. Help may not be coming for you as quickliy as you'd hope!

(10-23-2024 08:48 AM)Claw Wrote:  It's starting to look like hydrogen is going to kill the EV. Give it couple more years.

We're still away ways from that Claw.. Although i too think that's where we (should be) heading. Hydrogen is still too explosive in itself for pure combustible cars.

Will we find a way to get it to be safe to use? Yes, I think so.. it's just a matter of who's going to figure out how to do it first.

(10-23-2024 09:42 AM)Kruciff Wrote:  I guess you guys missed the lithium mines that have been popping up in Maine, Nevada, and North Carolina

We knew about the Maine ones already i thought? Basically Canada and Maine share a lot of those Super metal territory?

I hadn't heard about the ones popping up in Nevada?

And the North Carolina ones.. well, we're still waiting to see if people are going to be allowed to go home, or if imminent domain is going to be claimed by the govt.

(10-23-2024 11:54 AM)DaSaintFan Wrote:  

(10-23-2024 09:42 AM)Kruciff Wrote:  I guess you guys missed the lithium mines that have been popping up in Maine, Nevada, and North Carolina

We knew about the Maine ones already i thought? Basically Canada and Maine share a lot of those Super metal territory?

I hadn't heard about the ones popping up in Nevada?

And the North Carolina ones.. well, we're still waiting to see if people are going to be allowed to go home, or if imminent domain is going to be claimed by the govt.

it's a shite tech our species will/cannot build out/control/nor overwhelm current vs the lack of resolve that will become the USD over time in the fiat ... it's niche at best with a top of 2x.x to 3x.x% (if not Hydro ... ol' boy upstairs nailed with the H) when gen pop > x concentrate ........... x always works in socio-quantum-econ equations...

y'all have fonzies with that guy ...

(10-23-2024 11:54 AM)DaSaintFan Wrote:  

(10-23-2024 09:42 AM)Kruciff Wrote:  I guess you guys missed the lithium mines that have been popping up in Maine, Nevada, and North Carolina

We knew about the Maine ones already i thought? Basically Canada and Maine share a lot of those Super metal territory?

I hadn't heard about the ones popping up in Nevada?

And the North Carolina ones.. well, we're still waiting to see if people are going to be allowed to go home, or if imminent domain is going to be claimed by the govt.

Check it out, pretty cool stuff: Link

I want to say the Chips act or something or other earmarked a lot of money for sourcing these sorts of raw materials.

There's a new Cobalt mine in Missouri that's just about done. Another in Idaho I think. I'm excited because this all means we can likely produce batteries and EV's completely sourced within the US, we just have to catch up to China.

EDIT: From wikipedia on the new Thacker Pass Lithium Mine in Nevada

Quote:The Thacker Pass lithium mine is a lithium clay mining development project in Humboldt County, Nevada, which is the largest known lithium deposit in the US and one of the largest in the world. There has been significant exploration of Thacker Pass since 2007.
The Bureau of Land Management issued a Record of Decision approving development of the mine in January 2021. Construction began in March 2023 after an emergency appeal was denied by the court.
The project site would cover 18,000 acres (7,300 ha), with less than 6,000 acres (2,400 ha) of that being mined, on a site 21 miles (34 km) west-northwest of Orovada, Nevada within the McDermitt Caldera.
The mine is a project of Lithium Nevada, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lithium Americas Corp.
In late January 2023, car giant General Motors announced it would invest $650M in the mine project, giving GM exclusive access to the first phase of production. In February 2023, when the initial $320 million investment was completed, GM became Lithium Americas largest shareholder and offtake partner.
At full capacity the mine would produce 66,000 tons annually, equivalent to 25% of the current (2021) demand for lithium globally, which is expected to triple over the next five years. Development of the mine is driven by increasing demand for lithium used in electric vehicle batteries and grid storage of intermittently generated electricity from sources such as solar power or wind power.

No, no, no, we need to get it from someone else, says the current administration. We'll generate too much dust and have too many people inhaling the happy dust.