Vast Lithium Reserves Discovered in Wyoming

CommanderFrank

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
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The US may have just gone from a large importer of lithium to a world class exporter of the key component of lithium-ion batteries. The reserves were discovered by University of Wyoming researchers at Rock Springs, Wyoming.

Under a "best-case scenario" scientists believe the promising resource could provide a total of 18 million tons of lithium. That would match global production rates for 720 years.
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Huh, now if they can get this past the tree huggers...And it sure won't make China happy:)
 
BillR said:
Huh, now if they can get this past the tree huggers...And it sure won't make China happy:)
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Travolta said:
Good luck getting the EPA and el presidente to allow it to be extracted.
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Rock Springs is in Sweetwater County, which is and always has been a big mining and drilling area, and a huge uranium mine is in the process of being constructed there. Doesn't seem likely to be a problem.
 
evilsofa said:
Rock Springs is in Sweetwater County, which is and always has been a big mining and drilling area, and a huge uranium mine is in the process of being constructed there. Doesn't seem likely to be a problem.
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Well I hope it's not a problem, but I'm sure the EPA will come up with a problem.
 
Skripka said:
Damn you bummed me out by beating me to it.
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You could say it's hard to get happy or sad about it since it can be used to treat bipolar disorder.

Source: An unfortunately long string of girlfriends in the '90s.
 
Kendrak said:
Nice.

Hope this makes the batteries cheaper too.
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Not likely. There isn't that much actual lithium in the battery. Heck almost all of the cost is manufacturing. your $50 dollar cell battery may have a dollars worth of materials in it. The majority, by weight, being copper and aluminum foil. A EV sized battery pack is only going to be worth about $1000 or less in materials.
 
well China just got richer, they will sale it to them and they will resale it back to USA :rolleyes:
 
This pretty much sums up unfettered Capitalism in China...

sYckA2f.jpg
 
Jesus, we've double more than the actual capacity of lithium in the world if it yields 18 million tonnes. There are only 13 million tonnes discovered elsewhere in the world.
 
If it's already in a mining area, I don't see an issue. Just as long as they aren't killing people in there. I'm pretty liberal, but don't see a problem of utilizing something that's already in an industrial area, as long as they're not using slave labor and letting people suffocate and making them work in deadly conditions.
 
UrielDagda said:
If it's already in a mining area, I don't see an issue. Just as long as they aren't killing people in there. I'm pretty liberal, but don't see a problem of utilizing something that's already in an industrial area, as long as they're not using slave labor and letting people suffocate and making them work in deadly conditions.
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maybe mining Li requires use of different/more toxic chemicals?
 
This is bound to disturb the life of the 3 toed titmouse from
mozambique.

Unleash the hippies!
 
prometheum said:
like i said before...

just don't tell the EPA what you're doing like these guys
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/21/us-usa-explosion-regulation-idUSBRE93K09H20130421
:rolleyes:
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Yeah... hurray for self-regulation.

First, you keep the amount of dangerous chemicals hush hush, then you do not put together an emergency plan for such an incident. Also, you do not put together a hazard unit which would be briefed on the dangers and would contain such an event, leaving an unsuspecting number of volunteer firefighters get killed to attempt to protect private corporate property.

Yeah. Very thoughtful.

Some people like to harp about 'accountability', and when corporations ought to show some, they are the first to exonerate and exempt corporation from same.:rolleyes:
 
We never had problems with Lithium reserves, the issue was mines were shut down because they couldn't compete with China's prices.

I don't see this news changing anything about such market dynamics, but for sake of national interest it would make sense to open some mines back just to avoid getting squeezed again by demand or shortages - artificial or real - in the present or future.
 
Sounds like some guys in here would love living n China where regulations are almost non existent. They truly don't seem to care about environmental damage much like several posters here. Corporations don't give two shits about the damage they cause, only the prize at the end. We are far worse off with the pesky EPA keeping this country in a livable state.

I'm not gonna lie, I don't know if Lithium mining is the open pit type like that one gigantic open mine pits or not, but that is my vision of modern mining as it is viewed as more cost effective.
 
Lithium is not rare. We shut down lots of lithium mines in the US when the price fell.

It's used for making glass. See a glass shortage lately, or high glass prices?

The cheapest way to get lithium is from sea water.

Articles like this are used for "pumping the market" for commodity traders.
 
Kaitian said:
Jesus, we've double more than the actual capacity of lithium in the world if it yields 18 million tonnes. There are only 13 million tonnes discovered elsewhere in the world.
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That's a best case scenario. They're just considering if a 25 sq ft area has x amount, if it scales perfectly then it's y amount in a 20,000 sq ft area. Highly doubt it's going to be 18 million, but even a few million would be a damn nice discovery.
 
Hear of the first H-Bomb test that went wild?

At Bikini Atoll, they went to set off an H-Bomb test. It nearly wiped out the test crew since the yield was way over what was predicted by science. They didn't know that lithium was a powerful nuclear fuel. After that, we mined a buttload of lithium for nukes. Then, during nuclear disarmament, they dumped those huge reserves on the market, wiping out US lithium producers.

If the price of lithium goes up, the US mines will reopen. It's not going to happen. But how can you make money trading lithium futures unless you use media hype.
 
bastage said:
hmm... cheaper battery's incoming?
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Doubtful. If anything this will be an excuse for the US to jack up the rates so it rake in more profit.

It'll be amazing for our economy considering how popular lithium is now and to surpass China in this field would be a huge step back to being a large exporter of minerals instead of importer.

Great news all around.
 
Ski said:
This pretty much sums up unfettered Capitalism in China...

sYckA2f.jpg
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While I would never defend China's environmental record, I call bullshit on this pic. You can clearly see condensation on the window in the last frame.

I'm so happy, 'cause today I found my friends - they're in my [H]ead.
 
Travolta said:
Well I hope it's not a problem, but I'm sure the EPA will come up with a problem.
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The EPA is a joke right now and has been for a long time, you don't have anything to worry about.

The peak numbers are probably flat out BS, which is typical for any survey, but this is still good news. Hopefully when they go to mine it they don't totally flatten and/or destroy the entire site.
 
jpm100 said:
Capitalism in China is hardly unfettered.
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If you're rich it is. Ostensibly they're still a communist country but the reality is that they're now effectively a crony capitalist state much like the US and much of the rest of the world unfortunately. Money talks and BS/ideology walks is the way the world works right now.
 
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