There’s a potential new source of lithium to “mine,” and it could change the face of the renewable energy transition in the United States. The discovery concerns the wastewater produced during fracking operations, a sector of mining with a notoriously bad reputation. High levels of lithium were identified among the mineral content of samples taken from a natural gas mining site in Pennsylvania, opening a new avenue for the extraction of this valuable resource.
Fracking in Pennsylvania could hold the key to boosting the lithium supply
Lithium is one of the most prized minerals in the world at the moment as it’s a key component in the lithium-ion batteries needed for electric vehicles. It’s also used in pharmaceuticals, aerospace, and nuclear industry, among other applications. There’s a strong demand for lithium in the U.S., but it’s not among the top-producing countries, which are:
- Chile
- Australia
- China
- Argentina
- Brazil
The potential new source in the United States comes in the form of wastewater—called “produced water” in the oil and gas industry—brought to the surface during natural gas fracking activities. The Marcellus Shale fracking site in Pennsylvania is where lithium deposits in the water were discovered.
Other energy options in the United States are being considered viable, and the U.S. Department of Energy is now investing millions in research into extracting hydrogen from geothermal steam sites. It’s long been believed that subsurface pockets of pure hydrogen are rare. However, the idea is now being challenged.
What does fracking entail and where does the wastewater come from?
Fracking involves injecting water into subsurface wells of gas, and in the process, water that’s been embedded underground for thousands of centuries is pushed to the surface. This produced water is super salty and toxic, and often contains radioactive material and heavy metals.
A lot of the water that reaches the surface is re-injected back into the wells to continue the gas production process. But at the Marcellus Shale site in Pennsylvania, much of the wastewater gets transported to Ohio, where it’s disposed of in a deep injection well, which is an expensive but necessary procedure as everywell in Pennsylvania is required to report to the state the chemical composition of that wastewater.
A mining consultant discovered lithium 7 years after sampling wastewater
Justin Mackey, who was working as a consultant for the gas industry in Pennsylvania seven years ago, performed a sampling of produced water from the Marcellus Shale gas fracking site and delivered his specimens to the state. Years later as a PhD student at the University of Pittsburgh and employee of the Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Lab, he became curious about what his analyses revealed and whether the state had ever put the data to good use.
Mackey petitioned for the data under the Pennsylvania Right-to-Know law and analyzed the mineral content of 630 samples. He found that one of the waste products generated during natural gas production is lithium, which has positive potential in the transition from fossil fuel-powered engines to EVs due to it being an essential component of batteries.
“We found that the produced water from the Marcellus has comparable amounts of lithium to the brine ponds in Chile, which is the global, dominant source of lithium in the world. And more importantly, it has comparable lithium concentrations to the Arkansas Smackover and other formations that are actively being targeted for brine mining in the U.S.”
Mackey also pointed out that in the U.S., 2.8 billion liters of produced water are brought to the surface every day, meaning that lithium extraction is viable in theory even if the deposits are minute due to the volume of “product.”
In more energy news, hydroelectric power in the United States is getting a boost across the country as the Department of Energy is investing $430 million in modernizing almost 300 plants in 33 states.