What nobody will tell you about the massive lithium find buried deep in Appalachia

[Elderberry]

WND By Benjamin Roberts, Daily Caller News Foundation May 6, 2026

Long-standing regulations mean the United States may not be able to compete with Chinese critical mineral production despite the recent discovery of 328 years' worth of lithium stretching across the Appalachian Mountains.

In April, the United States Geological Survey estimated 2.33 million metric tons of extractable lithium lay underneath multiple Appalachian states. Red tape and lacking infrastructure could thwart the find's promised economic potential, analysts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Lithium is a critical resource essential for rechargeable batteries, including those used in electric vehicles, portable electronics such as laptops and phones, and electrical grid storage. Chinese companies presently account for two-thirds of worldwide lithium battery processing capacity.

"We have simply made it too difficult to permit a mine here in the United States and that must change. If China wants a new mine, they can open one tomorrow. But it takes 29 years to bring a mine online in the U.S. – the second longest timeline in the world; that's not sustainable," a National Mining Association (NMA) spokesperson told the DCNF when asked about mining prospects for the Appalachian deposits.

More: https://www.wnd.com/2026/05/what-nobody-will-tell-you-about-massive-lithium/

[Fishrrman]

I'm wondering if the strip mining required to get at the lithium, along with the post-processing of it on-site or near-site, will do more damage to the mountains down there than the stripping for coal...?

The great Jean Ritchie:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vySGbQwXUy4&list=RDvySGbQwXUy4&start_radio=1

[libertybele]

WND By Benjamin Roberts, Daily Caller News Foundation May 6, 2026

Long-standing regulations mean the United States may not be able to compete with Chinese critical mineral production despite the recent discovery of 328 years' worth of lithium stretching across the Appalachian Mountains.

In April, the United States Geological Survey estimated 2.33 million metric tons of extractable lithium lay underneath multiple Appalachian states. Red tape and lacking infrastructure could thwart the find's promised economic potential, analysts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Lithium is a critical resource essential for rechargeable batteries, including those used in electric vehicles, portable electronics such as laptops and phones, and electrical grid storage. Chinese companies presently account for two-thirds of worldwide lithium battery processing capacity.

"We have simply made it too difficult to permit a mine here in the United States and that must change. If China wants a new mine, they can open one tomorrow. But it takes 29 years to bring a mine online in the U.S. – the second longest timeline in the world; that's not sustainable," a National Mining Association (NMA) spokesperson told the DCNF when asked about mining prospects for the Appalachian deposits.

More: https://www.wnd.com/2026/05/what-nobody-will-tell-you-about-massive-lithium/

Changes need to be made sooner rather than later.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Similar to developing oil and gas fields nowadays, all in little pieces and not in one big glob.

Except a larger footprint is needed when excavation mining is required.

Not really all that big of a deal as mining has occurred for many hundreds of years.

Get the bureaucracy out of the way and development occurs earlier rather than later.

[roamer_1]

Daddy won't you take me back to Mulenberg County
Down by the Green River where Paradise lay.
Well I'm sorry my son
But you're too late in askin
Mr. Peabody's coal train has hauled it away.

Here we go again. 

[Cyber Liberty]

I'm wondering if the strip mining required to get at the lithium, along with the post-processing of it on-site or near-site, will do more damage to the mountains down there than the stripping for coal...?

The great Jean Ritchie:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vySGbQwXUy4&list=RDvySGbQwXUy4&start_radio=1

That's a good question! I think Lithium is extracted by strip mining, and that tears up the environment pretty badly!

[Timber Rattler]

That's a good question! I think Lithium is extracted by strip mining, and that tears up the environment pretty badly!

Yeah but strip mines can be reclaimed and returned to a state of nature, per the Mine Reclamation Act of 1977.  My dad did that kind of work in the 1980s before he retired.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_Mining_Control_and_Reclamation_Act_of_1977

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mine_reclamation

[berdie]

That's a good question! I think Lithium is extracted by strip mining, and that tears up the environment pretty badly!

It sure does. My relatives lived in southern Ill. Lots of strip coal mines that pretty well destroyed things. On the upside, once they stopped nature took over. On the down side, once they stopped the little towns around the area became ghost towns.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

That's a good question! I think Lithium is extracted by strip mining, and that tears up the environment pretty badly!

Nope, there are lithium resources far beyond what this article quotes for Appalachia.

In just the Smackover formation, there is several times that amount and it can be recovered by drilling wells, just like for oil and gas.  I was part of a drilling program reconnaissance proposal similar to this for uranium in South Texas decades ago.

Like producing hydrocarbons, water disposal will be a top issue to address.


Exxon, Standard Lithium asking state to approve 70,000 acres of lithium brine production
by Phillip Powell
April 21, 2025 3:53 pm
On Tuesday, two major lithium companies head back to the state Oil and Gas Commission to try and expand their production capacity in south Arkansas.

Standard Lithium and Saltwerx LLC, a Texas-based subsidiary of energy giant ExxonMobil, are asking state regulators to allow them to establish lithium brine production units that cover tens of thousands of acres in three south Arkansas counties.

Saltwerx’s proposed “Pine Unit” would cover a sprawling 56,245 acres in Lafayette and Miller counties, where the company intends to begin pumping lithium-rich brine out of the Smackover Formation. The United States Geological Survey estimates that the underground geological formation may contain 5 million to 19 million tons of lithium reserves  and could meet the 2030 global demand for the mineral in car batteries “nine times over.”

https://arktimes.com/arkansas-blog/2025/04/21/exxon-standard-lithium-asking-state-to-approve-70000-acres-of-lithium-brine-production

[verga]

Yeah but strip mines can be reclaimed and returned to a state of nature, per the Mine Reclamation Act of 1977.  My dad did that kind of work in the 1980s before he retired.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_Mining_Control_and_Reclamation_Act_of_1977

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mine_reclamation

Tell that to the people near the Bauxite mines. They have been in operation since the late 1800s, Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee. Most of them are still big holes in the ground.

[Smokin Joe]

Tell that to the people near the Bauxite mines. They have been in operation since the late 1800s, Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee. Most of them are still big holes in the ground.

No matter how much ore they remove, the hole won't get any smaller.