Not So Hidden Valley
Image: Salton Sea Beach, CA
92274 is the zip code for Salton Sea Beach in Imperial Valley CA. Some call it Lithium Valley, some the Saudi Arabia of Lithium. California officials estimate about 600,000 tons of lithium could be produced every year in the Imperial Valley, which would make it the largest lithium production site in the world. This ability to mine lithium in 92274 is the result of extreme environmental impact. Decades of low water levels and pollution has increased the surface area on which lithium mining sites can now be established. One of many EV manufacturers needing to secure batteries to meet future production goals, GM invested in Australia lithium mining company Controlled Thermal Resources now operating at Salton Sea.
Image: Salton Sea, The Guardian
Image: Controlled Thermal Resources Mining Site, Salton Sea
The common environmental side effects of lithium mining are water loss, ground destabilization, biodiversity loss, increased salinity of rivers, contaminated soil and toxic waste. Increasing green lithium mining is still work in progress. The race seems to be more efficiency in current processes versus discovery of new processes. We addressed the mining routing optimization use case at Pathmind. With manufacturing workflows still controlled by legacy SCADA systems, lots of room for improvement using AI-trained decision agents.
California Governor Gavin Newsom and President Biden have expressed their support of lithium mining to meet electrification and national energy security goals. Newsom proposed $350 million in tax credits for lithium entrepreneur applications. Ambitions are growing for California to lead the world in lithium production. Scoreboard for 2018: Australia (51,000 tons), Chile (16,000 tons), China (8,000 tons), and Argentina (6,200 tons). Those four countries have long dominated lithium production, with Australia only gaining a clear lead over Chile in recent years. A podium spot is within USA sights and California leading the way.
Source: United States Geological Survey
Source: Volkswagen
Locals who live near the Salton Sea, a region heavily impacted by unemployment and pollution, worry that efforts to extract the resource are moving too fast and ultimately will not benefit the people living there. Seems like a plot point for a Don’t Look Up Netflix movie prequel on mining precious materials to feed our technology consumption.
UC Santa Cruz Professor Fernando Leiva: “This could be a game changer but we have to have an open mind and not believe the spin. Understand the enthusiasm, but take it with a grain of salt.” That pun will become more equipment on the ground for the residents of 92274.