New Englander Posted October 26, 2022 Share Posted October 26, 2022 A couple of years ago I read an article in the WSJ about extraction of lithium from seawater. Because of all the EV talk recently and the erroneous assertion that China had all of it I decided to research to see if any company had followed up on the scientific discovery. The oceans have many thousands of times more lithium than the land but it's spread thinly. It seems GM has put their money up for extraction from the Salton Sea, a mineral rich sea in CA: https://spectrumnews1.com/ca/la-west/business/2021/07/02/general-motors-invests-in-company-extracting-lithium-from-the-salton-sea BTW, the countries with the most lithium: With 8 million tons, Chile has the world's largest known lithium reserves. This puts the South American country ahead of Australia (2.7 million tons), Argentina (2 million tons) and China (1 million tons). Within Europe, Portugal has smaller quantities of the valuable raw material. I've recently read in the WSJ that a company in Germany is also in the beginning stages of extraction (mining) domestically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vtfireman85 Posted October 26, 2022 Share Posted October 26, 2022 Interesting, this of course raises the question of whether or not we are swapping one natural resource for another and putting ourselves back in the same boat. Honestly 8m tons doesn’t sound like a lot to me. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Englander Posted October 26, 2022 Author Share Posted October 26, 2022 Article says: The lithium derived from the Salton Sea, however, is produced through a process called direct extraction and is integrated into the geothermal energy generation process, which uses steam from hot water reservoirs below the Earth’s surface to produce electricity. Part of a geothermal brine containing multiple types of minerals, the lithium is recovered using a closed-loop system powered with the renewable energy that geothermal generates. My phone calculator tilted when I tried to do the math of how many Teslas that could supply. Lithium batteries can be recycled so like that beer can, 40% recycled aluminum, future EV batteries will likely be composed of some recycled material, they're not as easy to toss in the trash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iowaboy1965 Posted October 26, 2022 Share Posted October 26, 2022 52 minutes ago, New Englander said: With 8 million tons, Chile has the world's largest known lithium reserves. This puts the South American country ahead of Australia (2.7 million tons), Argentina (2 million tons) and China (1 million tons). Within Europe, Portugal has smaller quantities of the valuable raw material. Who owns those mines and what country does that ownership reside in? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Englander Posted October 26, 2022 Author Share Posted October 26, 2022 1 hour ago, iowaboy1965 said: Who owns those mines and what country does that ownership reside in? Actually, I quoted reserves, not mines other than that a German company was beginning a mining attempt domestically (in Germany). You can search. My point was was that GM is actively investing/working on extracting from the Salton Sea. The paragraph on who has the reserves was copied from the article on the extraction plant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Englander Posted October 26, 2022 Author Share Posted October 26, 2022 1 hour ago, iowaboy1965 said: Who owns those mines and what country does that ownership reside in? Here, I did it for you:https://investingnews.com/daily/resource-investing/battery-metals-investing/lithium-investing/top-lithium-producers/ 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowrosefarm Posted October 26, 2022 Share Posted October 26, 2022 Something we haven't talked about is that this is the same lithium that is used in grease. There are many ramifications to that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rawleigh99 Posted October 26, 2022 Share Posted October 26, 2022 I believe China is making a play for some of Chile's. https://www.asiafinancial.com/chinas-byd-wins-chile-lithium-extraction-contract Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MTB98 Posted October 26, 2022 Share Posted October 26, 2022 China is the worlds leading consumer of lithium. That also have the most EVs on any country in the world. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1105113/global-lithium-consumption-distribution-by-region/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cattech Posted October 26, 2022 Share Posted October 26, 2022 Interesting video on US lithium deposit I seen a while back... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rawleigh99 Posted October 26, 2022 Share Posted October 26, 2022 Wow, that is neat! But will the "Greenie" let us mine and process it???? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Englander Posted October 26, 2022 Author Share Posted October 26, 2022 How the USA fell behind in Lithium production: https://www.cnbc.com/video/2022/01/15/how-the-us-fell-behind-in-lithium-production.html?jwsource=cl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeeper61 Posted October 26, 2022 Share Posted October 26, 2022 Looks like GM found some more raw materials to make more EV batteries There are also still full steam ahead on ICE trucks https://www.autoweek.com/news/a41766478/gm-increase-chevy-bolt-production-2023/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
U-C Posted October 26, 2022 Share Posted October 26, 2022 personally Lithium isn't the answer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sledgehammer Posted October 26, 2022 Share Posted October 26, 2022 9 hours ago, iowaboy1965 said: Who owns those mines and what country does that ownership reside in? I looked closer and the chief stockholders of the top two are Vanguard on one and JP Morgan on the other. Funny how a lot of large corps are traceable to this Vanguard group of investors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeeper61 Posted October 26, 2022 Share Posted October 26, 2022 10 minutes ago, Sledgehammer said: I looked closer and the chief stockholders of the top two are Vanguard on one and JP Morgan on the other. Funny how a lot of large corps are traceable to this Vanguard group of investors. Vanguard has a bunch of retirement funds so they have deep pockets #2 behind Black Rock size wise Both Jp and Vanguard are US based 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art From Coleman Posted October 26, 2022 Share Posted October 26, 2022 Yet the "EXPERTS on EVERYTHING" look at all those pictures the smoke and ash, and tell us than "man" produces far more atmospheric pollution, than ALL volcanic eruptions in history have, COMBINED. What utter stupidity, and lack of thinking ability, those in the MEDIA possess. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sledgehammer Posted October 26, 2022 Share Posted October 26, 2022 19 minutes ago, jeeper61 said: Vanguard has a bunch of retirement funds so they have deep pockets #2 behind Black Rock size wise Both Jp and Vanguard are US based I think even closer inspection will find your Vanguard, JP Morgan, BlackRock, and Berkshire Hathaway type groups are are primary investors in each other and all are primarily owned (ie stocks) by mega-wealthy billionaires. The strange thing is, it’s the same billionaires... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vtfireman85 Posted October 27, 2022 Share Posted October 27, 2022 4 hours ago, jeeper61 said: Looks like GM found some more raw materials to make more EV batteries There are also still full steam ahead on ICE trucks https://www.autoweek.com/news/a41766478/gm-increase-chevy-bolt-production-2023/ How is still a mystery, only possibility is that perhaps they can be had. From my observation they are at the back of the pack in terms of what they bring to the table. They managed to turn more than one die hard GM family down other avenues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Plow Posted October 27, 2022 Share Posted October 27, 2022 As long as my RedLithium batteries keep powering the impact wrench and cordless drill...........I couldn't give 2 hoots..... 😄 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeeper61 Posted October 27, 2022 Share Posted October 27, 2022 4 minutes ago, vtfireman85 said: How is still a mystery, only possibility is that perhaps they can be had. From my observation they are at the back of the pack in terms of what they bring to the table. They managed to turn more than one die hard GM family down other avenues. I am still running GM but I have some HP stuff and want to play some with tunning They have the most supported ECU tunning so its the easiest option for running HP mods Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MTB98 Posted October 27, 2022 Share Posted October 27, 2022 3 hours ago, Mr. Plow said: As long as my RedLithium batteries keep powering the impact wrench and cordless drill...........I couldn't give 2 hoots..... 😄 All the handwringing over Chinese companies owning rights to lithium mines and at the same time Chinese owned and manufactured Milwaukee tools gets praise. 3 hours ago, Sledgehammer said: I think even closer inspection will find your Vanguard, JP Morgan, BlackRock, and Berkshire Hathaway type groups are are primary investors in each other and all are primarily owned (ie stocks) by mega-wealthy billionaires. The strange thing is, it’s the same billionaires... Most everyone who has a 401k or IRA is probably invested in those companies as they run the investment funds. You left out another big player, State Street Bank. If you’re a billionaire where do you invest your money? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve C. Posted October 27, 2022 Share Posted October 27, 2022 5 hours ago, Sledgehammer said: I looked closer and the chief stockholders of the top two are Vanguard on one and JP Morgan on the other. Funny how a lot of large corps are traceable to this Vanguard group of investors. Vanguard, Black Rock, Berkshire Hathaway, and JP Morgan are invested in just about everything there is. Unholy alliances. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Englander Posted October 27, 2022 Author Share Posted October 27, 2022 7 hours ago, MTB98 said: If you’re a billionaire where do you invest your money? Mostly in private equity, I work for one of them. Each PE firm has a multitude of funds. Some are "green", no oil, mining or other "dirty" companies for the woke crowd. Those funds don't return as well as non woke funds. Other funds are targeted to certain segments. Routinely, when capital is being raised for another fund our flights will include state capitals for retirement fund investments, the middle east for sheik money, amongst others. Unlike SS which borders on a Ponzi scheme, retirement funds such as your IRA and 401k, 403b, etc., must grow the money for the returns we need so our money is invested along side billionaire money. My daughter works in the investment arm of a large insurance company. Your premiums won't pay for losses, the money must be grown to cover those costs and pay all the expenses. Insurance companies invest in many areas and have some investment in PE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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