Emily Chan
According to last year’s numbers, one metric ton of lithium was valued at around $29,000. So, with this figure in mind, it is likely that the Salton Sea contains $540 billion worth of goods. Of course, now efforts are being made to extract as much lithium as possible from the lakebed.
“There have been companies for decades, actually, that have been trying to get lithium out of there, and especially in the last decade as electric vehicles and energy storage on the power grid become such a big need,” Sammy Roth, a climate journalist for the Los Angeles Times, said.
However, removing staggering quantities of lithium from the Salton Sea is no easy task, and it comes with some risks, too.
Getting to the lithium requires geothermal production wells, underground pumps, and large amounts of water.
In addition, there are approximately 180,000 residents who live near the lake. They could be impacted by the drilling work, and their water supply, which comes from the Colorado River, might be affected as well. There is a chance that the positive effects could outweigh the negative ones, though.
In a news release from March, Imperial County announced that lithium extraction would be taxed, meaning that new streams of revenue would be created.
What do you think? Is it a good idea to extract the metal? Or should the lithium at the lake be left alone?
