Inc. Magazine
The U.S. may be sitting on a lithium jackpot hidden beneath Appalachia.
The U.S. May Not Need to Import Lithium for Much Longer
Author: Avery Miles
Despite having been a dominant world producer of lithium three decades ago, the U.S. imports most of its lithium these days. That could soon change.
A new report from the United States Geological Survey says an estimated 2.3 million metric tons of lithium oxide was found in Appalachia. That’s enough to replace 328 years’ worth of U.S. imports at last year’s level.
“This research shows that the Appalachians contain enough lithium to help meet the nation’s growing needs,” USGS director Ned Mamula said in a statement. He notes that this represents “a major contribution to U.S. mineral security, at a time when global lithium demand is rising rapidly.”
In 2024, the U.S produced only 0.3 percent of all global lithium, according to an estimate from the Energy Institute’s 2024 Statistical Review of World Energy.
Over the past year, the U.S. has imported nearly $85 million worth of lithium-ion batteries from China, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity. The import of these batteries is particularly costly, as both the Trump and Biden administrations have levied tariffs on Chinese imports of the product.
The U.S. Is Sitting on a Goldmine
The Appalachian lithium deposit is big enough to power 130 million EVs, estimates the USGS. It’s also enough for 3 billion tablets and laptops, 500 billion cell phones, or 1.6 million electric grid batteries.
About 1.43 million metric tons are estimated to be locked in the southern Appalachians, concentrated in the Carolinas, and another 900,000 metric tons are under the forests of rural western Maine and New Hampshire.
As manufacturers scrap lead-acid or alkaline for lithium-ion batteries, demand for lithium will only continue to explode. The USGS expects global lithium production capacity to double by 2029.
U.S. Investment in Domestic Lithium Production
The discovery has spurred firms like Standard Lithium to flock to Arkansas. The company received a $225 million grant from the Department of Energy, according to Fortune. The planned lithium project will target an initial 22,500 metric tons of annual battery-quality lithium carbonate production. The company estimates that one region of Arkansas holds about 1.2 million tons of lithium reserves, reports NewsNation.
As of this publication, the only operating lithium mine in the country is in Silver Peak, Nevada. Beyond that, the U.S. hosts just a handful of lithium projects concentrated in areas outside of the Appalachian deposit, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
The large-grained rock similar to granite is also critical to AI infrastructure. And hyperscalers are buying into that belief, reports Fortune. Last year, Google announced the company had deployed 100 million lithium-ion cells in its data centers. Lithium-ion batteries last two to three times longer than conventional batteries. They also recharge faster than the average battery, making them a preferred choice for data centers. The batteries are a critical backup energy source for data centers during power outages.
Now deemed a critical mineral by the USGS, lithium has “the abundant potential to reclaim our mineral independence,” Mamula said.
Credits: TCA, LLC.