US race to compete with China on lithium runs into water battles

{"text":[[{"start":7.74,"text":"Water scarcity has become a rising political, legal and financial obstacle as America races to build a domestic lithium industry, US researchers say, increasing the stakes on efforts to lessen its reliance on China."}],[{"start":21.376,"text":"The US attempt to shift away from dependence on China for lithium, critical for batteries in electric vehicles and smartphones, has seen the Trump administration invest in Lithium Americas’ $3bn Thacker Pass mine in Nevada. The renewed interest in developing the metal domestically has resulted in about 115 proposed mines popping up across the country."}],[{"start":42.04,"text":"But growing water scarcity in the western US as climate change takes effect could undercut lithium production, Northwestern University researchers said in a report."}],[{"start":52.44,"text":"Production of the critical mineral is water-intensive and developers could increasingly encounter permitting delays and legal challenges over water use or be forced to invest more in recycling technologies."}],[{"start":64.12,"text":"“Water is such a key issue around mining and communities who are near mines are often most concerned about how mining operations will affect their water availability and water quality,” said Jennifer Dunn, a chemical and biological engineering professor at Northwestern and an author of the study."}],[{"start":80.58,"text":"Thacker Pass has already run into community opposition, including a lawsuit from a Nevada rancher over water usage that it has since settled. Blackstone Minerals’ Green River lithium project in Utah has also been a target of litigation."}],[{"start":94.14,"text":"Kyle Roerink, executive director of environmental group Great Basin Water Network, which is suing over the Green River project, was sceptical of the claims made by lithium producers about water availability."}],[{"start":104.78,"text":"“Companies need to be honest and forthright and regulators need to be the same way,” he said."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":111.1,"text":"Climate change is likely to intensify the disputes over water usage and rights as an increasing number of droughts reduce supplies in the western US."}],[{"start":118.54,"text":"“Water is increasingly going to impact the ability to develop new mines and potentially going to be a source of conflict over whether limited amounts of water in those places can go to the mining company, agriculture or to urban areas,” said Luke Balleny, a manager in energy minerals and circularity at the World Resources Institute."}],[{"start":138.34,"text":"The Dallas Federal Reserve foreshadows that many US lithium projects will require large upfront investment, with costs for certain schemes expected to exceed $1bn. It also notes that water scarcity could see projects in affected regions face community opposition, increasing the risk that delayed ventures never reach completion."}],[{"start":156.7,"text":"Adriana Carvalho, an associate director at S&P Global, said water scarcity and competition for water resources in the US are forcing developers to rethink how lithium projects are designed, permitted and operated."}],[{"start":169.78,"text":"“A few years ago, discussions were largely centred on resource size, production capacity, recovery rates and lithium prices,” she said. “Today, water management is becoming a strategic consideration much earlier in the development process.”"}],[{"start":184.46,"text":"Some developers are experimenting with direct lithium extraction technologies, a nascent field which can reduce water loss from evaporation — a crucial step in traditional extraction methods. According to S&P Global, 21 lithium projects were proposing to use this technology."}],[{"start":200.02,"text":"Standard Lithium plans to use DLE at its proposed mine in Arkansas, while Lithium America has set out plans to recycle 85 per cent of the water from its facilities at Thacker Pass and reuse that water seven times."}],[{"start":212.22,"text":"“A lot of the lithium resources and reserves are located in areas that are water limited. In many instances we have the technology to reduce water consumption but it comes down to the economics,” said David Boutt, a hydrology professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst."}],[{"start":228.06,"text":"A person close to the Thacker Pass project confirmed that water had become an increasingly contentious issue in Nevada. Developing future phases of the project would be contingent on securing additional water rights, they said. The company has already secured water rights for its second-phase development from a ranching family whose children were not taking over the business."}],[{"start":248.02,"text":"Even as demand for lithium grows, industry executives and researchers agree that the US will probably remain reliant on imports of the critical mineral."}],[{"start":256.1,"text":"Rystad expects US-produced lithium to only meet 5 per cent of global demand by 2030 and estimates that only seven projects out of the 100-plus that have been announced will be operational by the end of the decade."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":272.94,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1786600730_4626.mp3"}