Global demand for lithium, a metal vital for the batteries in electric cars and computer electronics, is projected to grow by 40 times in the next 20 years as renewable technologies become more common. The earth deep below the southern Salton Sea is rich in hot, mineral-abundant brine that contains some of the world’s largest deposits of lithium, enough to make California a global production hub.
The Salton Sea, California’s largest lake, is a shallow, landlocked, and highly saline body of water in Riverside and Imperial Counties in the far southern part of the state.
The body of water has come and gone at least five times in the last 1,300 years, most recently in 1905, after the Colorado River breached a dike and two years of flooding filled a sizzling basin, earning it the nickname “The Accidental Sea.”
For a number of decades, the Salton Sea was a mid-century resort destination, drawing people to fish and boat, with celebrity visitors including Frank Sinatra. In 1970, disastrous storms left the marinas and waterfront properties looking apocalyptic. And by 1995, lake levels seemed to peak.
Since 2003, the 324-square-mile lake has shrunk by 40 square miles, exposing vast swaths of lakebed with microscopic wind-blown dust that contributes to poor air quality and asthma. In 2020, Palm Springs Life magazine summarized the ecological situation as “Salton Sea derives its fame as the biggest environmental disaster in California history.”
Giving the region a new lease on life
Because of the lake’s geological makeup and its location over the San Andreas Fault, San Jacinto Fault, and the Imperial Fault zone, evidence of geothermal activity is visible. Mud pots and mud volcanoes are found on the eastern side of the lake. This has been a boon for geothermal energy companies, producing electricity.
This also means that the 11 geothermal plants at the Salton Sea, with their huffing stacks and snaking pipelines, are difficult to miss, jutting up from the Imperial Valley’s flat desert floor. And while the plants seem to be out of the way and difficult to visit, they are included on a local group’s “Toxic Tour” when state officials come to town.
This is where the global demand for lithium enters the picture. Rod Colwell, chief executive of Controlled Thermal Resources Ltd., the Australia-based lithium mining and geothermal power company, is overseeing the construction of the region’s first geothermal power plant in nearly a decade.
Colwell anticipates the $520 million plant would start producing lithium in 2024. In July, General Motors Corp. said it invested in the project as it seeks to eliminate tailpipe emissions from light-duty vehicles by 2035.
And additionally, the owners of the 11 existing geothermal plants around the lake’s southern shores are retooling for lithium and possibly other brine minerals instead of building from scratch. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Energy Co. has state and federal grants for lithium demonstration projects and says it could begin construction for commercial operations in 2024.
California officials estimate about 600,000 annual tons of lithium could be produced in the Imperial Valley – an amount that would upend global supply chains, especially if related businesses like battery and cathode makers decided to relocate here.
Over 80 percent of the world’s raw lithium is mined in Australia, Chile, and China, with China also controlling more than half of the world’s lithium processing facilities and hosting three-quarters of the lithium-ion battery megafactories in the world.
While much is still in either the exploratory phases or just taking root, it will be exciting to see how the restoration of the lake and lithium production come to fruition in the next few years.
