Why The U.S. Has A Massive Lithium Supply Problem

The United States has a lithium supply problem. Nearly every major automaker has announced a transition to electric vehicles, Tesla delivered almost one million cars in 2021, and electric vehicle companies like Rivian and Lucid are rolling new models off the line.

In order to power all of these EVs, we will need batteries, lots of them. Electric vehicle growth will be responsible for more than 90% of demand for lithium by 2030, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. But lithium is also in our phones, computers, ceramics, lubricants, pharmaceuticals, and is essential for solar and wind energy storage. This vital mineral in rechargeable batteries has earned the name “white gold” and the rush is on.

But today, the U.S. is far behind, with only 1% of global lithium being mined and processed in the U.S., according to the USGS. More than 80% of the world’s raw lithium is mined in Australia, Chile, and China. And China controls more than half of the world’s lithium processing and refining and has three fourths of the lithium-ion battery megafactories in the world, according to the International Energy Agency. There is only one operating lithium mine in the U.S., Albemarle’s Silver Peak, Nevada.

But that could be changing. Last June, the Biden administration released a blueprint for jumpstarting domestic lithium production and refining as well as battery manufacturing, and set a national EV sales goal of 50% by 2030.

And there are several domestic lithium projects in the works in Nevada, North Carolina, California and Arkansas, to name a few.

Controlled Thermal Resources is developing a lithium project at the Salton Sea in California. Last summer, GM announced a multi-million-dollar investment in Controlled Thermal Resources, and has secured first rights to purchase the domestically produced lithium for its EVs.

Piedmont Lithium wants to revive an old lithium mining area in North Carolina, near Charlotte. Piedmont signed a deal in 2020 to supply Tesla with lithium sourced from its deposits there, but the project has hit delays due to permitting.

Lithium Americas plans an open-pit mine at Thacker Pass, which is located about 200 miles north of Reno, Nevada, and is one of the largest lithium reserves in the U.S.

But no one wants a mine in their backyard, and Thacker Pass and other projects have been plagued with lawsuits and opposition from environmentalists, permitting delays and opposition from Native American tribes in the area.

Watch the video to learn more, and to get an inside look at some of the domestic lithium projects in the works.

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Why The U.S. Has A Massive Lithium Supply Problem

[shauryasingh]

CNBC down bad stealing video ideas from Wendover productions

[gregghoge]

I fully agree that the United States needs to become more in control of our own destiny when it comes to raw material supply and refining. We can't be left in the position where everything we need has to come from somewhere else. We need to do the necessary mining and refining in the most environmentally responsible way possible. That said, if you fly over Nevada at 40, 000 feet or so, there's a whole lot of open space there.... Charlotte, NC may be a different story.

[michaeloreilly]

One of the main issues with Lithium refining is water use, particularly in arid areas. .
This video does not address it adequately.

[generalvee]

The main reason is US's short sightedness and bad policies.

[freeman]

I feel like Wendover put it well in his newest video on EV batteries, at around 14:25 in his video, roughly quoted he says "EV's are dirtier to make, but the majority of emissions come from driving them, electric vehicles from production, to use, to scraping, are responsible for about 75% LESS emissions, even using dirty fossil fuel electric grids to get there, anyone who argues the opposite is either misinformed, or attempting to disinform" there is no such thing as clean mining, but if this step has to be dirty to make the clean alternatives we need, then I'm all for it

[flakgun]

There's huge amounts of lithium right next to Tesla's plant in Nevada.

The problem is that lithium is so cheap it's not worth it to mine it domestically.

The lithium in a lithium ion battery is only 3% of the cost. It's basically irrelevant. There's no shortage of cheap litium to go around

Cobalt is 60%. Cobalt mostly comes from the congo, mostly produced with slave labor.

Lithium is not the issue. Stop wasting so much time trying to equate lithium reserves to oil reserves. No one is going to go to war over lithium

[jarjarbinks]

We need to capture the lithium recycling industry for domestic market demand. Lithium recycling will be the final key to the longevity of the ev car market

[jsosa]

Don’t worry when Mexico starts mining their lithium the problem will be solved and electric car company’s will move there operations there, Mexico has the largest reserves in the world

[jboy]

Great, so instead of fights over oil, we'll just adjust to lithium...

[quahgalaxys]

US will need to list lithium and rare metal productions under emergency national security measures. The problem of shortage is real and delayed action to start production will bring US EV ambitions to its knees.

[graphosxp]

I have too many lithium battery powered devices in storage because manufacturers have stop support for OS updates, locked bootloaders etc. Results being devices have become unusable. Google, Amazon, Apple want people to upgrade to the latest model and the environment be damned. "lithium supply problem" made worse by artificial obsolescence.

[speedmaster]

Next: Why the U.S. doesn't have enough mango trees...or Why the U.S. fell behind moped technology..

[Nyhiak]

We don’t. And be careful investing in crappy stocks.

[jordangate]

These environmentalists need to shut up on this one, "Lithium mining will destroy this beautiful area that will provide 40 years of materials."
Shows an unused dessert with no wild life or chance to grow as the beautiful area.
But the alternative to a lithium mine like coal mining & fossil fuels is totally ok. & lithium mining in different countries while using child slavery like cobalt mining in africa is ok.
The environmentalist uses a ton of lithium dependent electrics to preach her cause & drives a gas emitting car everywhere. There's no irony in that?

[JJ-siqh]

1:50. Doesn't look destroyed to me. I'm an environmentalist, and some issues are more important than others. The transition away from fossil fuels far outweighs more local concerns when reducing our carbon footprint on a global scale. The ancestral lands argument is honestly starting sounds like a cash grab by raising the stakes and ultimately how much a company will pay to mine there.

8:28. Oh? I guess the Aral Sea doesn't make the list.

11:48. Last beautiful places in America? This guy DROVE to Thacker Pass. Were his eyes closed? The entire drive is beautiful, and so is much of the country. Wack argument, especially given 97% of the country is rural and mostly unspoiled.

Most comments in the comment section of this video are downright terrible and debunked with a cursory Google search.

[satyakisil]

According to CNBC the USA has a massive everything supply problem.

[jonnybike]

We will need to get recycling 100% of electronics. If we could recycling all electronics and also be able to recycle even more of our trash. We should also invest in hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and look for other technologies that don’t have raw material shortages.

[aaronwilcox]

Most of our problem is our production has been regulated out of business by bad mining practices of the past.

[Chrissers]

11:49 "My original goal was to raise awareness about how these lithium mines would be destroying some of the last beautiful places left in the United States". He needs to get out more and see the vast beauty of this country.

[arindamkumar]

To environmentalists: On the one hand you want to stop global warming and then you want to stop Lithium mining. You can't have both. Choose one