Pennsylvania's 'white gold' find could fulfill 40% of U.S. demand

Scientists have discovered a new massive lithium source in Pennsylvania that could meet up to 40 percent of the U.S. demand for this element. Lithium is often referred to as "white gold." The metal is precious.

The magazine "Scientific Reports" reported that the discovery was made in wastewater from gas drilling in Marcellus, Pennsylvania. This water is a byproduct of the hydraulic fracturing (fracking) process, which involves injecting fluids at high pressure into rocks to extract natural gas from shale.

Currently, 90 percent of the world's lithium supply, worth approximately CAD 11 billion, comes from Australia, Chile, and China. This rare element is essential for producing modern batteries used in smartphones, laptops, electric vehicles, smartwatches, and e-cigarettes. Demand for it is steadily increasing. Due to its difficult availability and limited resources, its prices are rising by about 500 percent annually.

It now appears that almost half of the lithium used for U.S. industry needs could come from Pennsylvania.

The U.S. Geological Survey has recently classified lithium as a critical element, prompting the U.S. government to intensify its search for sources. Currently, the country has only one active lithium mine, in Nevada. This means that to meet the demand, the U.S. has to import large amounts from abroad.

Given the importance of lithium for the U.S. plans to transition to green energy, officials from the U.S. Department of Energy have set a goal that by 2023, the entire lithium demand should be met by domestic production rather than – as is currently the case – from brine ponds in Chile and processed in China.

Finding a new "white gold" source significantly brings the U.S. closer to achieving this goal.

The situation is complicated because lithium extraction is a very controversial process – it releases substantial amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere and significant amounts of toxic chemicals into the soil.

The latest discovery offers a chance for a completely different method of obtaining this element without the need to build more mines. However, as experts say, hydraulic fracturing is also associated with a significant environmental burden. They note that before starting to extract lithium from wastewater on an industrial scale, it is necessary to understand the impact of its extraction on nature.

Dr Justin Mackey from the National Energy Technology Laboratory says oil and gas wastewater is a growing problem. Currently, they are only minimally treated and re-injected into the ground. But they have the potential to be used better. After all, "it's been dissolving rocks for hundreds of millions of years -- essentially, the water has been mining the subsurface," he adds.

At the end of May, geologists estimated that the Jadar Valley in Serbia could contain the largest lithium deposits in Europe. The estimated value of this deposit is CAD 5.5 billion. Its extraction could provide hundreds of jobs and a steady income stream for the government. The EU and Serbia are finalizing an agreement to exploit these resources.

Lithium is called "white gold" because the deposits of this resource are white. Nowadays, it is a precious metal. It is used in lithium-ion batteries that power laptops, cell phones, and tablets.

It also produces glass and heat-resistant ceramics, durable alloys used in aviation, and lithium cells.