"The United States recently announced the discovery of a rich new lithium deposit beneath the Salton Sea in Southern California.
According to data from the U.S. Geological Survey, these newly discovered lithium deposits amount to as much as 18 million tons, with a value exceeding $540 billion.
This discovery significantly enriches America's lithium resource reserves and brings enormous value.
In comparison, China's lithium reserves are less than 18 million tons, with most of it buried underground, making extraction challenging.
However, the United States is eager to expedite the extraction of this vast wealth that has been sealed for over a century.
This move seems aimed at reducing dependence on Chinese lithium resources and thereby boosting America's position in the lithium market.
The importance of lithium resources cannot be overlooked.
Whether as an industrial raw material or for manufacturing high-tech products, lithium plays a crucial role.
Lithium and its alloys are used in the production of spacecraft, missiles, and other high-tech products. Additionally, it is used as high-energy fuel in rocket engines, providing thrust and energy to send rockets into space.
These applications place high demands on lithium reserves, particularly with the widespread use of lithium-ion batteries.
Since the 1950s, with the rapid development of electronic technology, the demand for lithium resources has grown sharply worldwide.
However, global lithium resource supply is limited and expensive, once even surpassing gold in value.
The United States has twice made large-scale purchases from Mexico due to its demand for lithium resources, but has not invested heavily in reserves.
In the early 1990s, with the development of battery technology, lithium-ion batteries became widely used in mobile communication products and other fields.
However, the United States realized its lag in lithium resources and began searching for lithium resources in the Southwest in the late 1980s, discovering a large-scale lithium mine in New Mexico.
The lithium mine in New Mexico is geographically close to and similar in nature to the lithium mine beneath the Salton Sea.
The first lithium production company in the United States, Lithium Corporation of America, mainly processes lithium ore from New Mexico, so domestically mined lithium in the United States is only about 380,000 tons, far less than the reserves of a lithium mine in China.
Although the United States has discovered a 6-million-ton lithium mine in Nevada, for this rapidly developing country, lithium resources are still insufficient, and the demand for lithium resources has always been high.
In contrast, China leads the global lithium resource market, supplying 60% of lithium resources and occupying about 75% of the market share in lithium-ion battery production.
China also has a huge demand for lithium resources but has sufficient reserves, making it play an important role in the global lithium industry development.
For the sake of the development of the electronics industry, the United States has a strong demand for lithium products from China, which is also the main reason why the United States has not been able to wean itself off its dependence on Chinese lithium resources.
The discovered lithium mine beneath the Salton Sea in the United States has reserves of up to 18 million tons, with an estimated value of about $540 billion.
Although the United States is hopeful about this discovery, it may encounter common problems faced by other countries' extractors during the extraction process, such as environmental impact and energy consumption.
However, lithium resources are renewable, so there is no need to worry about resource depletion.
Water resources around the Salton Sea are scarce, and agricultural activities require a large amount of water.
Mining lithium ore may further exacerbate the water scarcity situation and may have negative impacts on the surrounding environment.
Therefore, the United States needs to first address the environmental issues that may arise during the extraction process and provide sufficient energy support for the extraction process.
Although there are geothermal resources around the Salton Sea, supplying electricity remains a challenge.
The United States needs to overcome these issues to fully exploit the lithium mine resources beneath the Salton Sea, to meet domestic demand, and to maintain competitiveness in the global lithium market."
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