An incredibly toxic lake will become one of the United State's first lithium mines.

[DGUtley]

An incredibly toxic lake will become one of the United State's first lithium mines.

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One of the United States' first major forays into lithium mining seems like it's going to be in the Salton Sea—one of the most polluted places in the country—after General Motors struck a deal with a mining company called Controlled Thermal Resources.

Lithium-ion batteries are key to this process, and global demand is expected to increase between 5 and 18 times over the next several years. Put simply, we will need a lot of lithium, and the overwhelming majority of lithium in today's batteries comes from Australia, Chile, China, and Argentina. But the American southwest has huge stores of lithium as well.

General Motors is hoping that a CTR mine in the Salton Sea can supply “a significant portion” of the lithium needed for its electric cars. It’s a step toward GM’s first-in-the-nation commitment to phasing gasoline-powered cars out of its production line by 2035—CTR is slated to start delivering lithium to the company by 2024, at which point the company will be well-poised to achieve this goal.

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https://www.vice.com/en/article/epn5...rce=reddit.com

[Peter1469]

Good. We need to mine our own rare earth minerals.

[FindersKeepers]

I'd be willing to bet there's something fishy going on here.

Geothermal developers and other industries have been trying to turn that spot into an industrial area for years. Schwarznegger proposed they close it (wonder which of his buddies asked that favor?).

But, it's still a functioning lake and it still has an operating recreational area. Boating, kayaking, etc., are still permitted, so the lake isn't quite as toxic as the industries would like us to believe.

https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=639

It is true we (as a nation) would benefit from mining our own lithium rather than depending on China. China's far from dependable, right?

The Salton Sea is evaporating and it's land-locked, so, given enough time (decades?) it could become a playa. The salinity level is likely increasing due to the evaporation, but folks are still fishing there.

My biggest concern at this point is lithium leaching into the rather high water table in that area as long as Salton Sea is still fluid. Of course, there is no lithium mining without water, so they obviously plan to use the lake water for their mining operations.

By labeling the lake as toxic now, they're presplaining what's going to occur once lithium mining starts. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

By the way, Salton Sea is on a migratory bird path, so that does not bode well either.

It will be interesting to see what happens here.

[Tahuyaman]

I’ve caught some weird looking fish in the salton sea. I’d never consider eating one.

[jigglepete]

I’ve caught some weird looking fish in the salton sea. I’d never consider eating one.

[carolina73]

I'd be willing to bet there's something fishy going on here.

Geothermal developers and other industries have been trying to turn that spot into an industrial area for years. Schwarznegger proposed they close it (wonder which of his buddies asked that favor?).

But, it's still a functioning lake and it still has an operating recreational area. Boating, kayaking, etc., are still permitted, so the lake isn't quite as toxic as the industries would like us to believe.

https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=639

It is true we (as a nation) would benefit from mining our own lithium rather than depending on China. China's far from dependable, right?

The Salton Sea is evaporating and it's land-locked, so, given enough time (decades?) it could become a playa. The salinity level is likely increasing due to the evaporation, but folks are still fishing there.

My biggest concern at this point is lithium leaching into the rather high water table in that area as long as Salton Sea is still fluid. Of course, there is no lithium mining without water, so they obviously plan to use the lake water for their mining operations.

By labeling the lake as toxic now, they're presplaining what's going to occur once lithium mining starts. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

By the way, Salton Sea is on a migratory bird path, so that does not bode well either.

It will be interesting to see what happens here.

The stories seem to lack real details
The sands are filled with other metals, which they fail to list but it also sounds as if it has become a runoff dump for farming irrigation waters pumped in from the Colorado River. So, I wonder if the asthma problems are from the metals, just fine dust or the fertilizers and pesticides used by the farmers?