Stefan Mileschin

In one of the most polluted places in the country

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.

The deal is pretty important in plans to stave off climate change by electrification using Lithium-ion batteries. To do this the world needs shedloads 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.

Ironically, mining is environmentally destructive and the Salton Sea is one of the most polluted places on the planet due to decades of agricultural runoff. Environmentalists there worry that if the lake continues to dry up, toxic dust on its floor could go airborne and pollute the air between Phoenix and Los Angeles.

https://fudzilla.com/news/53208-us-g...lithium-mining