Lithium News

Scientists have discovered $540 billion worth of ‘white gold’ sitting underneath a huge lake.

Located in southern California, Salton Sea is the largest in the state and sits on a lithium reservoir.

While scientists knew that the chemical element was there, they didn’t know just how much lithium was beneath the lake – and the true amount is pretty astounding.

Last year, it was revealed that there could actually be a staggering 18 million tons of lithium – also referred to as ‘white gold’ due to its value and appearance – rather than the previously thought figure of four million tons.

For context, this would be enough to power more than 382 million batteries for electric vehicles.

The true figure was discovered in a study funded by the Department of Energy (DOE) which researched the Salton Sea to try analyze just how much lithium is underneath the huge body of water.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has previously described the Salton Sea as the ‘Saudi Arabia of lithium mining’ – and it’s now understandable why.

In light of the new discovery, it makes the California-based reservoir the largest in the world.

As of last year, one metric ton of lithium was worth around $29,000.

With that figure in mind, Salton Sea could be sat atop of $540 billion worth of goods.

One of the study’s 22 authors, Michael McKibben, a geochemistry professor at the University of California, Riverside, said of their findings: “This is one of the largest lithium brine deposits in the world.

“This could make the United States completely self-sufficient in lithium and stop importing it through China.”

Others in the industry have hailed the finding as ‘huge’.

Sammy Roth, climate columnist for the Los Angeles Times, said on KJZZ radio’s The Show: “It’s been known for a long time that there’s a whole bunch of lithium in this super heated underground pool, sort of deep beneath the the southern end of the Salton Sea.”

Roth continued: “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 the power grid become such a big need.

“But this this new report out of the federal government it’s really a sort of eye popping number. They found that there’s potentially enough lithium down there to supply batteries for 382 million electric vehicles, which is more, more vehicles than there are on the road in the United States today.

“So, if we could get all that lithium, that’d be huge.”

Albemarle’s plans to reopen a resource-rich lithium mine in North Carolina will take longer than originally expected as a collapse in lithium prices weighs on the company.

Albemarle, a top lithium producer, had originally planned to reopen the Kings Mountain mine as early as late 2026 to increase domestic lithium production and support a U.S. electric-vehicle battery supply chain.

“It’s going to be a later date,” Eric Norris, president of energy storage at Albemarle, told CNBC. “It slowed down a bit given the concerns we have, but we are still progressing it forward. It’s not that we’ve stopped it.”

Kings Mountain could produce enough material to manufacture 1.2 million electric vehicles annually. The mine sits on one of the world’s richest deposits of spodumene ore, a source of lithium. There is currently only one operational lithium mine in the U.S. in Silver Peak, Nevada, which is owned by Albemarle.

Albemarle does not have a precise date for when Kings Mountain will become operational, Norris said. The company is preparing to start the permitting process, which will take two years to complete. Construction will be a multiyear undertaking before the mine is operational, according to the company.

The Biden administration has made setting up a battery supply chain, supported by domestic lithium production and processing, a top priority to end dependence on China, which dominates the global market. Albemarle was awarded a $90 million grant from the Defense Department to support domestic mining, which the company is using to help reopen Kings Mountain.

Kings Mountain was an operational lithium mine from 1937 until the 1980s when owner Rockwood Holdings ceased operations to focus on resources in Chile. Albemarle acquired Rockwood and the mine in 2015.

Albemarle has come under pressure as global lithium prices have collapsed more than 40% since last year and 81% from 2022 highs, forcing the company to adjust expansion plans. Albemarle put on hold a chemical plant in Richburg, South Carolina, that would have processed the lithium from Kings Mountain.

Albemarle CEO Kent Masters said the industry still needs to add significant capacity as electric-vehicle demand remains strong, with more than 20% global growth so far this year. However, lithium prices have fallen below the marginal cost of production as the supply of the commodity has expanded.

“It’s difficult to justify investment projects where the prices are today,” Masters said.

Lithium prices need to be at a minimum of $20 per kilogram to justify investments, Masters said. The average price in 2023 was $15 per kilogram. The CEO said he expects lithium prices to become less volatile, with lower highs and higher lows, as the market matures.

Albemarle’s profit plummeted 99% to $2.4 million in the first quarter compared with $1.2 billion a year ago. Revenue fell 47% to $1.36 billion, down from $2.58 billion in the first quarter of 2023.

Though Albemarle took a huge hit compared to last year, the company’s earnings largely met Wall Street expectations, while revenue came in above forecasts. Investors reacted positively to the results with shares closing more than 5% higher at $125.30 on Thursday. On Friday, shares climbed 3% further.

Recyclable and sustainable batteries are a prerequisite for a green energy revolution, as the rapidly increasing demand for batteries is driving up the consumption of rare raw materials like lithium.

Two spin-off ventures, stemming from various ETH Zurich research, are working to solve this problem by applying innovative production and manufacturing techniques in the battery domain.

BTRY, an ETH spin-off, creates ultra-fast-charging batteries that can withstand temperature changes and are appropriate for various uses. Another firm, 8inks, hopes to standardize a cutting-edge manufacturing process that will allow it to create customized batteries.

Ultra-fast charging, solid-state design

Liquid electrolytes are found inside conventional lithium-ion batteries, the kind that is currently found in notebook computers and smartphones.

Because of this, the batteries are susceptible to temperature changes and can quickly catch fire at high temperatures, for example. Additionally, it takes some time for traditional batteries to recharge.

As a result, BTRY has created a solid-state battery with thin layer construction that can significantly reduce charging times. When it comes to the components of their battery and the production method, the researchers completely eschew using liquids.

According to the BTRY team, the main benefit of its solid-state batteries is their extreme temperature resistance. As a result, they can be employed in applications that require them to function at extremely high or low temperatures, such as sensors that identify vapor leaks or during medication delivery.

Utilizing a coating technique derived from semiconductor production, BTRY’s battery design offers advanced efficiency. Within a vacuum, wafer-thin battery cells are meticulously stacked, creating a revolutionary design.

The team claims the innovation facilitates ultra-fast recharging, completing in approximately one minute. Moreover, the battery’s unique structure ensures a lifespan of approximately ten times longer than its conventional counterparts.

The resulting product resembles a thin foil, with coatings so delicate that the final thickness is thinner than a human hair.

The team sees the battery’s potential in various applications, such as consumer electronics, space operations, and Internet of Things sensors.

Multilayer coating innovation

ETH spin-off 8inks distinguishes itself from other battery producers with its cutting-edge manufacturing process. It seeks to replace the so-called slot die technology, a manufacturing standard for lithium-ion batteries that has essentially not altered in the last 30 years.

The team created a method known as “multilayer curtain coating.” The active substance that stores the lithium-ion can be applied in many thin layers to customize the coating process to the specific needs.

Lithium-ion batteries have been the workhorses of the renewable energy transition since the early 2000s, but the world is changing and so is energy storage. Researchers have been eyeballing a new sodium-ion battery formula that provides for a high level of performance while avoiding the supply chain issues that can bedevil conventional Li-ion batteries, and now all that hard work is beginning to pay off.

Here Comes The New Sodium-Ion Battery From Natron

In the latest sodium-ion battery news, on April 29, the US startup Natron Energy staked out its claim to the first commercial-scale production of a sodium-ion battery in the US when it hit the start button on its factory in Holland, Michigan.

Somewhat ironically, the new factory is a repurposed former lithium-ion battery plant. Natron expects the makeover to produce 600 megawatts worth of the new sodium-ion battery per year.

Electric vehicle fans, put away your pom-poms for now. Initially, the new factory will tap into the explosively growing energy storage needs of data centers. In particular, Natron anticipates that the equally explosive growth of AI technology will fuel more demand for energy storage and 24/7 power at data centers in the US.

The 600 megawatts is just for starters. Natron also anticipates that the Holland factory will provide a model for future gigawatt-scale factories to follow, with an eye on additional markets, including off-road industrial vehicles and EV fast charging stations, as well as the telecom field.

Many Helping Hands For The New Sodium-Ion Battery

If you’re looking forward to a sodium-ion battery for your next electric vehicle, you may have to wait a while. In the meantime, Natron’s technology fits the bill for large-scale energy storage. CleanTechnica first caught wind of the data center angle in July of 2020, when the company announced a new round of $35 million in funding from ABB Technology Ventures, NanoDimension Capital, and Volta Energy Technologies.

“The new investors join Chevron, Khosla Ventures, and Prelude on the Natron roster, so it looks like things are cooking,” we noted.

“Natron plans to expand its reach in a wide range of scale, from edge and distributed computing to massive data centers and telecom infrastructure,” we also noted.

The US Department of Energy can also give itself a pat on the back for the new sodium-ion battery factory. In September of 2020, the company received a $19.9 million award from the Energy Department’s ARPA-E office for funding high-risk, high-reward projects, with the goal of shepherding the new factory into being.

“The project aims to scale up production of Natron Energy’s (Natron) Prussian blue electrode sodium-ion batteries by 30x to 18,000 trays per year, and fully de-risk the resulting supply chain and products through continuous production and sales for six months,” ARPA-E explained. The office also noted that the company’s 8-kilowatt, 50-volt battery tray is primarily designed to manage peak loads at data centers and provide emergency backup power, but emerging markets like EV fast charging stations and grid-scale storage are also targeted.

“Natron’s tray provides data center operators up to 2x higher power density and 10x longer cycle life than existing products, along with superior safety performance,” ARPA-E adds.

Making Sodium-Ion Batteries Better

The 19th century writer and geology enthusiast Jules Verne famously cooked up a sodium battery to power Captain Nemo’s submarine in his 1870 novel 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. It’s taken a while, but sodium is finally having a moment.

The sustainability factor behind the silvery-white metallic element sodium (chemical symbol Na from the Latin natrium) has been driving the interest in sodium-ion batteries. However, there being no such thing as a free lunch, the battery of the future has been elusive until recent years.

Sodium is far more abundant than lithium, but it is also much heavier. In terms of energy storage for electric vehicles, lithium beats sodium on driving range.

On the other hand, the “chemical kinship” between sodium and lithium provides a helping hand for battery research. “Sodium is just below lithium in the periodic table of the elements, meaning their chemical behaviors are very similar,” Physics Magazine helpfully explained just last week.

“That chemical kinship allows sodium-ion batteries to ‘ride the coattails’ of lithium-ion batteries in terms of design and fabrication techniques,” they added.

Longtime energy storage researcher Jean-Marie Tarascon of the College of France was even more forthcoming. “Sodium-ion technology is really a clone of lithium-ion technology,” he told Physics Magazine.

Aside from weight, another challenge has been longevity. The Energy Department’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory explained the problem back in 2022, describing a weak link as the protective film on the anode of a sodium-ion battery, which degrades over time. “This film is critical because it allows sodium ions to pass through while preserving battery life,” the lab explained.

Lithium-ion batteries also degrade, but a typical sodium-ion battery degrades much faster. Developing an electrolyte formula that stabilizes the film has been a moving target. Natron launched in 2012 with a mission to hit that target, and apparently they have succeeded after a little more than a decade.

The Electric Vehicle Angle

The relatively low cost of sodium-ion batteries also opens up the opportunity for rapid deployment in community electric vehicles, second cars, and other short-range applications that don’t necessarily require an expensive, long-range, fast-charging battery.

Beyond that, other battery innovators are working towards replacing lithium-ion technology with sodium-ion in highway-worthy EVs. The Swedish startup Northvolt is among those first out of the gate, and more activity in the EV area is stirring.

Here in the US, the Energy Department has been lending an assist to sodium-based energy storage innovators. Last October, for example, ARPA-E awarded $3,198,085 to the Massachusetts firm 24M Technologies to develop a new sodium-ion battery specifically for EVs.

“24M’s cell design will incorporate (1) its ultra-thick SemiSolid cathode made up of advanced cobalt-free, nickel-free sodium cathode active material, (2) an advanced wide-temperature, fast-charging electrolyte developed using machine learning and automated high-throughput screening technology, and (3) a sodium super ionic conductor,” ARPA-E explained.

On the research side, the Energy Department’s Argonne National Laboratory has been building on its experience with lithium-ion batteries to develop new solutions for a roadworthy sodium-ion battery.

A research team at Argonne developed the lithium nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) cathode material for EV batteries, which General Motors deployed in its Chevy Volt and Bolt cars. Commercial interest in NMC battery technology is still ongoing, but Argonne has moved on to explore new territory.

The key to the NMC architecture was to arrange the atoms in layers, enabling the lithium to flow more efficiently. Argonne has been replicating the strategy for its new sodium battery research. The result is a layered sodium nickel-manganese-iron oxide formula that allows for the efficient insertion and extraction of sodium. “The absence of cobalt in the cathode formula mitigates cost, scarcity and toxicity concerns associated with that element,” the lab notes.

Among other automakers, keep an eye on Stellantis. Earlier this year, the company let word drop that it has invested in the French sodium-ion energy storage innovator Tiamat.

Tesla Megapacks will help expand the Collie Battery into a 560 MW/2,240 kWh system–the biggest in Australia.

Neoen recently won the contract to triple the size of the Collie Battery. The French renewable energy and storage developer is teaming up with Tesla and UGL to expand the Collie Battery.

The first stage of expansion has already started, with construction underway to grow the Collie Battery to 219 MW/877 MWh. In the second stage, Neoen will add 341 MW/1,363 MWh to the battery.

By the end of construction, Neoen’s Collie Battery will be 560 MW/2,240 MWh, making it bigger than Synergy’s 500 MW/2,000 MWh battery. Synergy’s battery is still under construction a few miles away from Collie. 

Neoen’s Collie Battery will charge and discharge 20% of the average demand into Western Australia’s main grid or the South West Interconnected System. Stage 2 is contracted to provide 300 MW of storage capacity for 4 hours of discharging during evening peak hours. 

Collie is a coal town, but its coal generators are expected to shut down within the next five years. The battery’s expansion aims to help Collie transition from coal power to renewable energy.

“This is intended to address the risks AEMO has identified related to the retirement of coal power plants, high penetration of rooftop solar, and increasing energy demand in Western Australia,” said Neoen.

Tesla believes the energy storage business will continue to grow and expects it to grow faster than its car business. Tesla Megapack deployments reached an all-time high in Q1 2024, and the company believes it will increase over the next few quarters and years.