They find one desert colorful that could be the future of humanity. We’ve been looking for it for decades and it has much more impact than this lithium battery recycling project. Some time ago the Government American granted Nevada Lithium a $2.26 billion loan to develop the country’s largest lithium deposit, a base mineral for the production of batteries used in electric vehicles (EV).
Lithium Nevadaa subsidiary of Lithium Americaplan the increase of a lithium carbonate processing plant adjacent to the Thacker Pass minewhich harbors significant proven lithium reserves USA and one of the richest in the world.
Lithium America is participated by General engines (GM)a company that in January 2023 reported an investment of $650 million allocated to the establishment of a lithium mine.
It was recorded as the largest expenditure made by an automaker to date to acquire the raw materials to make batteries. The prediction is that the plant Thacker Pass generating 40,000 tons of lithium carbonate annually for the development of lithium-ion batteries, the most popular in the automotive sector for use in electric vehicles.
The world has been looking for this for years: a supplier of lithium in large quantities is not China in Russia.
The United States makes history with the Nevada desert: it becomes a lithium supplier
He United States Department of Energy declared through a statement that the loan was conditional and pending review to align it with the environmental laws of USA. “The development of this project will strengthen domestic battery supply chains and reduce dependence on unreliable foreign sources,” the government said of the funding.
In this context, the desert by Nevada It is becoming a major lithium producer due to its topography, climate and geological serendipity. Aquamarine pools spread between the mountains Clayton Valleya huge basin of Esmeralda County in western Nevada. Likewise, most of the basins and mountain ranges are completely dry, while the ponds are drying up Clayton They are artificial and rich in lithium.
1966 was a decisive year for this Silver peaka discreet silver mining town located in the desert named. It was at that time that it was the first lithium production plant in Nevada.
An event that took place decades before this metal became what it is today: a strategic element for renewable energy and security. This factory, managed by Albemarle Corporationgenerates 5,512 metric tons (5,000 metric tons) of lithium carbonate annually.
The Nevada desert answers humanity’s exhausting quest
For now, Silver peak It is the only plant that produces Lithium in Nevadabut that could change quickly. The things that cause lithium Nevadain particular, rhyolite (the eruptive form of granite) harbors only trace amounts of lithium. This characteristic is not sufficient to derive direct economic benefit from it.
For this reason, as recorded EOSgeologists are interested in ‘volcano-sedimentary deposits’. There the metal is highly soluble and becomes concentrated in nearby basins after being weathered and mobilized from the parent rock.
In Clayton ValleyLithium-rich brine is pumped to the surface to be evaporated or processed via still-emerging direct lithium extraction techniques. But what really interests geologists is the potential of lithium clay Nevada.
The spun-off subsidiary of the company Lithium America Corp that predicts his initiative Thacker Pass it houses 240 million tons (217.3 million metric tons) of the metal. It is predicted that production will begin around the year 2028.
It is colorful desert could become the future of humanity. It could mark a turning point in the lithium battery industry, threatened by the emergence of a foreign chemical element that oxidizes to function.