$540 Billion 'white gold' discovered at bottom of lake

In research funded by the Department of Energy, a lithium reserve worth $540 billion has been discovered at the bottom of California's Salton Sea, the largest lake in the US. Scientists have made an extraordinary discovery in the depths of America's largest lake.

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The investigations revealed an unprecedented amount of lithium at the lake's bottom, estimated at 18 million tons. This finding significantly exceeds the 4 million tons previously estimated by scientists.

The vast lithium reserve discovered in the lake, also known as 'white gold,' could potentially produce batteries for 382 million electric vehicles.

"The Saudi Arabia of Lithium"

Michael McKibben, a geochemistry professor at the University of California, Riverside and one of the authors of the study, stated, "This is one of the world's largest lithium brine deposits. It could make the United States completely self-sufficient in lithium and stop importing it from China."

California Governor Gavin Newsom previously described the Salton Sea as the 'Saudi Arabia of lithium.' With this new discovery, the lake is now confirmed as the world's largest source of lithium.

Environmental Impacts

However, extracting the lithium from the lake is not without its challenges and dangers. According to SFGATE, accessing the lithium won't be easy and will require "geothermal production wells to extract the lithium-rich brine from thousands of meters below the earth's surface. Once the lithium is dissolved, the liquid will be pumped back underground."

This process could impact the approximately 180,000 residents living nearby and the water supply from the Colorado River, which may be affected by the significant amount of water needed to complete the process.