Berkeley Lab investigating potential domestic lithium source in Imperial Valley
Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Lithium Resource Research and Innovation Center and Energy Storage Center are currently studying the Salton Sea Known Geothermal Resource Area, or SS KGRA, in Southern California’s Imperial Valley as a potential domestic source of lithium for the United States. The lithium is located in hot, salty water thousands of feet below the Salton Sea, according to Meg Slattery, a PhD student at UC Davis. It is expected to offer the most sustainable source of lithium on Earth, said Will Stringfellow, research engineer at Berkeley Lab, in an email.