A new study by a team of scientists at the University of Pennsylvania has discovered a lithium mine in wastewater from hydraulic fracturing gas extraction that could potentially meet 40% of US demand. The discovery is significant because lithium is an essential element for the production of electric vehicle batteries, mobile phones, laptops, smart watches, and e-cigarettes. With increasing demand for lithium, prices have been rising by 500% each year.
Currently, the majority of the world’s lithium supply is produced in countries like Australia, Chile, and China. In the US, there is only one active lithium mine in Nevada, so a large amount of lithium needs to be imported to meet demand. However, due to the environmental impact of mining lithium from hard rock deposits, officials at the US Department of Energy aim to have all lithium used in the US produced domestically by 2030.
The researchers at Penn discovered the lithium source by analyzing wastewater from hydraulic fracturing at a natural gas mining facility in Pennsylvania. They found significant amounts of lithium present in the wastewater generated by hydraulic fracturing in Marcellus Shale gas wells. By using byproducts of hydraulic fracturing as feedstocks for extracting lithium from wastewater, workers can mine this valuable element efficiently with up to 90% efficiency in some cases.
The discovery could help address concerns about the environmental impact of extracting lithium from hard rock deposits and reduce dependence on imports from countries with less stringent environmental regulations. Future research will focus on optimizing the process and reducing costs to make it more economically viable for commercial use.
