“Lithium Production in the United States: Socio-Technical Review of Sites, Environmental Impacts, and Social Acceptance” — Alannah Charlotte Brett, Elizabeth A. Holley, Raphael Deberdt, Lukas Fahle, Nicole M. Smith. SSRN, September 2024.
Reviews all major US lithium projects across four production types — hard-rock mining of lithium pegmatites, soft-rock mining of lithium clays and sediments, and solution mining of lithium brines via either evaporative concentration or direct lithium extraction (DLE) — totalling known reserves of 0.71 million tonnes and resources of 27.8 million tonnes of contained lithium as of mid-2024. The US had only one lithium mine and commercial refinery, and one lithium-byproduct producer, in 2024.
Builds a political-ecology analysis on top of this resource picture, tracing the environmental impacts and social perceptions tied to each production type. Pegmatite deposits (12% of reserves, 2% of resources) have seen open-pit mining proposals raise water-quality and landscape-disruption concerns. Clay and sediment deposits (71% of reserves, 74% of resources) have generated controversy over Tribal cultural resources and impacts on desert playa ecosystems. Salar-type brines (10% of reserves, 1% of resources) supply the US’s sole lithium mine via evaporative concentration — high water use in this method is driving research into DLE methods for geothermal and oilfield brines (11% and 6% of resources respectively).
A summary conceptual diagram maps how global, domestic, and site-specific factors interconnect to shape responsible US lithium production, showing how resource availability, technology, and social dynamics converge to determine the outcomes of lithium development and US supply security.