US Moves to Lithium Independence with Ambitious Mining Projects

Several countries around the globe are investing heavily in lithium mining to support electric vehicle (EV) battery production and large-scale storage. This has led to the enormous growth of mining projects in lithium hubs such as South America’s Lithium Triangle. It has also encouraged more exploration in less prolific areas as energy companies look to bolster their supply chains through domestic lithium production. In the US, Arkansas is fast becoming a major lithium hub, and other lithium states are expected to emerge from greater exploration.

The Biden administration has supported the development of the domestic lithium industry with mining-friendly policies that support the green transition and funding from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act (BIL). This is part of the government’s efforts to establish a reliable supply of essential minerals to support the deployment of renewable energy and clean technology.

In March of this year, the US Department of Energy (DoE) announced financing of up to USD 2.26 billionunder the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Loan Program to build the Thacker Pass Lithium Project in Nevada. The mine is expected to become operational later this decade and supply General Motors ( GM ) with lithium. Lithium Americas will mine approximately 40,000 metric tons of battery-grade lithium carbonate per year at Thacker Pass, which could power up to 800,000 electric vehicles. This will eventually rise to around 80,000 tonnes per year. GM invested further 650 million dollars in the project.

Last November, Exxon Mobil announced plans to produce lithium in the US starting in 2027. It will run operations in Arkansas, using conventional oil and gas drilling methods to access lithium reservoirs. Exxon is partnering with Tetra Technologies for its lithium business under the Mobil Lithium brand. American Battery Technology Company, Applied Materials and Cirba Solutions jointly received $2.8 billion in DoE funding for 21 new, upgraded and expanded commercial-scale lithium processing and battery recycling facilities.

Albemarle, a major lithium producer, is eyeing lithium production in North Carolina. Earlier this year, it announced plans to reopen the state’s lithium-rich Kings Mountain mine by the end of 2026, backed by 150 million dollars in DoE funding. However, it has faced backlash from environmentalists and indigenous groups who want to block the development, leading to delays. Albemarle is looking to expand its domestic lithium production. The company currently operates the Silver Peak mine in Nevada the first mine producing lithium in North America.

Based on recent findings, the US could be on its way to lithium independence. Last September, a group of scientists was funded by the Lithium Americas Corporation reported that the McDermitt Caldera, a volcanic crater on the Nevada-Oregon border, holds between 20 and 40 million metric tons of lithium deposits, which is nearly double that found in Bolivia, which is part of lithium triangle. In December, the DoE announced that it had confirmed another significant lithium deposit, under California’s Salton Sea. He said there are around 3,400 kilotons of lithium, which would be enough for more than 375 million EV batteries. This is well above the 14 million metric tons previously mapped by the US Geological Survey.

While recent US lithium discoveries are significant, the country still has limited capabilities to mine, refine and produce lithium domestically. Currently, the world’s largest lithium producers are Australia, Chile, China, Argentina, Brazil, Zimbabwe, the US and Portugal. The US is the only one of these countries to have experienced a decrease in lithium production in the last decade. It also has the lowest lithium production relative to the size of its reserves in these countries.

However, there is high hopes for the future of US-produced lithium with Arkansas emerging as a major hub for the critical mineral. Several major companies, including companies such as ExxonMobil, Albemarle and Standard Lithium, have invested in mining operations in Arkansas. Based on recent exploration activities, lithium reserves in the state are of high quality, which should facilitate extraction.

The US invests heavily in development direct lithium extraction (DLE), to increase their production potential. DLE technologies can extract up to 90 percent of the lithium in the brine, which is much higher than conventional pond extraction rates of about 50 percent. They can also mine the mineral in days rather than months, which can make it much cheaper and faster to produce. However, DLE has not yet been proven to work on a large scale, meaning the US needs to develop the technology further or implement conventional production techniques on a larger scale to increase its lithium production capacity.

By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com

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