The 'white gold rush': Inside a lithium mine, where stores of recyclable energy lie | Nightline

The 'white gold rush': Inside a lithium mine, where stores of recyclable energy lie | Nightline

Lithium powers many of our devices as well as electric vehicles. Western states are believed to hold an immense amount of the metal and some say it could help the U.S. reach its climate goals.

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50 Comments

  1. Double Slit Photon on August 2, 2022 at 2:42 pm

    Wassup with the catwalk? a model turned into reporter or a reporter turned into a model?

  2. awsomenesscaleb on August 2, 2022 at 2:44 pm

    We need to destroy the earth’s crust to save the environment

  3. Michael Romero on August 2, 2022 at 2:44 pm

    They use unlimited amounts of water to mine lithium, we won’t have much water by 2050 do to people storing it all to many people wasting to much and now mining lithium with it

  4. Vanta Black on August 2, 2022 at 2:47 pm

    Come on keep flower and don’t use lithium that would otherwise promote gasoline fueled cars putting the earth more at risk. Bigger picture is to dig out lithium to save the world in a speedy way n replace combustion engine

  5. Tyler Bell on August 2, 2022 at 2:48 pm

    joe biden is destory our country more and more, also you left the big bad parts of lithium mining

  6. B ee on August 2, 2022 at 2:49 pm

    It’s a good thing the American government is involved, that we we know everything we are told is true and good for us. when I hear democrats say something I immediately start looking the opposite direction for truth.. this will end up like the oil wars we have invited ourselves into in the name of “help” for other countries. Oh, and thanks for wearing your masks alone in the desert idiots. Your saving the world !!!

  7. moonshinefuel on August 2, 2022 at 2:51 pm

    I don’t think this is the answer, the reason why is batteries don’t last, they go bad, so that’s a problem, you’ll never stop digging up the earth and destroying it. There are revolutionary breakthroughs by using simply, water, (hydrogen) emissions free and regenerative solar extraction processes. Why not utilize water, which is free from the sky, oceans, etc. And simply falls back down to earth again.

  8. Hawkern on August 2, 2022 at 2:52 pm

    And Noone talk about the Litium farming in Kongo where about 15000 children is working the mines….. the big companies chose to look the other way….

  9. King of Rivia on August 2, 2022 at 2:53 pm

    Lithium batteries are VERY EASILY recyclable. People always forget that. We dont have the capacity yet but its a very easy process that recovers 99% of lithium.

  10. Pete on August 2, 2022 at 2:56 pm

    "We just have to get the technology" says an American. How did we get to this point?

  11. Michael Felder on August 2, 2022 at 2:56 pm

    The Boring Company has not Killed one endangered species and certainly not this precious plant @5:13
    To all you "professional" mining executives… Time to man up and hire a ProofRock from Elon and get this done by building a tunnel highway in the layers so rich in Lithium.
    Open pits and ponds are Old school and silly. They use, outdated machines and stick humans in them to drive in a slot car track.
    C’mon it’s 2022, ProofRock is real. It exists TODAY. Get it done.

  12. Jonathan Lindsey on August 2, 2022 at 2:56 pm

    Beat them kids for being too noisy with those toys cause I’m ever so fatigued

  13. Tad on August 2, 2022 at 2:58 pm

    So just HOW is Biden going to cut our greenhouse gas emissions by 50% in just eight years???? Crash the economy of course. Close up shop.

  14. Mary Thompson on August 2, 2022 at 2:58 pm

    You are not welcomed in Thacker Pass Nevada

  15. S R on August 2, 2022 at 2:59 pm

    touching underground aquifers is "not using otherwise unused water resources"? 😳

  16. Clear Mind on August 2, 2022 at 3:01 pm

    Bunch of BS over 85% of the lithium and cobalt comes from mining operations in Third World countries where they use child slaves in the mine chefs. I guess if that’s the kind of trade-off you’re looking for you can sell your soul for a walk conscience.

  17. Common Gunowner21 on August 2, 2022 at 3:01 pm

    This wont end well for us

  18. RG P on August 2, 2022 at 3:03 pm

    What happens when there isn’t enough water?

  19. Frank J on August 2, 2022 at 3:03 pm

    Do it in America, or else the price will rise like anything else.

  20. Derwyn Yleen on August 2, 2022 at 3:05 pm

    You talk like lithium isnt toxic. Go ahead and use it for your facial than.

  21. Shadow Marshall on August 2, 2022 at 3:07 pm

    @5:35 she asks how long do they have ? He replies they have estimated 10 years to strip mine the area and were left with a giant hole in the ground with a pit of toxic lake water…. That seems to be good for the environment 👍🏼

  22. Ethan Mertins on August 2, 2022 at 3:07 pm

    A buckwheat flower 😐😐😐

  23. Moses Manaka on August 2, 2022 at 3:08 pm

    What’s up with the woke masks.

  24. Jonathan c on August 2, 2022 at 3:12 pm

    its probably done in other countries because its cheaper there, and no one wants to destroy your own backyard.

  25. Joeziah Babb on August 2, 2022 at 3:12 pm

    its a goddamn flower…99% of every species that has existed on this planet has gone extinct and these people want to see the country fall behind economically to safe every damn plant, insect or whatever the hell their privileged life has led to believe is worth saving.

    Soft men create hard times….

  26. azrios on August 2, 2022 at 3:12 pm

    Does that weed have a human health benefit?

  27. Hantus77 on August 2, 2022 at 3:13 pm

    Hydrogen

  28. Dawn Baldwin on August 2, 2022 at 3:14 pm

    Lithium is a nessersery layer that the earth needs it works the same for our earth as it does on humanity. It really needs to go organic biofuels machines that fart that feed the plants. We should never destroy any of the earths nessersery elemental layers when our evolution depended on them. There us so much science that still needs to catch up with our biological spaceship. You could grow so many types of organic biofuel without damaging the earths evolution. This is a quick attempt to fix a long term issue. We can grow all these elemental layers if we take the time to feed the earth and grow matter. 💚

  29. Dale Val on August 2, 2022 at 3:14 pm

    Biden is an idiot

  30. June Hanzawa on August 2, 2022 at 3:15 pm

    This is exactly the mentality that has allowed China to monopilise all the critical minerals needed for our energy and national defense needs. We have people more concerned with a little plant than all the damage that fossil fuels are doing to the rest of the world.

    Nor is the method of extracting the lithium from the ponds very effective or efficient. It need to be dumped into much smaller pools where the water can be heated with solar concentrating mirrors with glass domed roofs on top of the pools collecting all the desalinated steam/condensation and using what was useless salt water deep in the ground into now clean/desalinated water for other purposes. That would speed up the rocess a thousand fold and is a win-win for all.

  31. Oliseo Vazquez on August 2, 2022 at 3:17 pm

    Guess who ain’t getting lithium for free??🤣

  32. David Clark on August 2, 2022 at 3:22 pm

    Joe Biden literally cannot string a sentence together.

  33. mdb123 on August 2, 2022 at 3:22 pm

    Why not build a facility/warehouse and copy the habitat (actually take the soil from Silver Peak) and grow the plant there? Also at the facility harvest the seeds of that plant and store them there. Once the reclamation is done reseed the area with seeds. If that fails then at least the species will survive in the facility.

  34. Light VS Darkness on August 2, 2022 at 3:24 pm

    I’ve learned of way too many white materials/etc. now and now I’m afraid I need to learn how to test something white to see what kind of substance it is. There are drugs that are white. Salt. Baking Powders. Now this Lithium. There are probably even more white grainy and powdery substances too and that is going to become way too confusing to discern easily with just looking at them all. I’m also concerned about this area and what it looks like, how desolate it is there. No structures built to provide shade. How do the workers survive in that no man’s land? I wouldn’t put up with that crap and I’d make sure they construct some survival structures around there before starting a work life in that area.

  35. Rosario Livatino *Mártir da Justiça* on August 2, 2022 at 3:24 pm

    Grande mina de Lito no Nordeste de PORTUGAL 🇵🇹🇵🇹🇵🇹 A maior jazida da EUROPA🇪🇺🇪🇺🇪🇺 De facil prospecçao de superficie. Boas Estradas para transporte. ha tambem muito tungstênio e volfrâmio 💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧

  36. TOOLIN' on August 2, 2022 at 3:24 pm

    He laughted when she said "facial" lol

  37. Kormondre on August 2, 2022 at 3:25 pm

    The production process looks disgusting

  38. dimitarz on August 2, 2022 at 3:25 pm

    Lets destroy the environment….to save the environment 🫠

  39. Victor Segovia Palacios on August 2, 2022 at 3:27 pm

    "Critical to fight climate change"
    What a retard

  40. Louise Hoff on August 2, 2022 at 3:29 pm

    does the southwest need 4.6 million gallons of fresh clean water every day or a tesla they cannot afford? Thacker Pass has been thrown open to digging a deep pit mixing our water with acid so the rich can drive a fancy car. When the Quinn River gives out they will keep drawing from the aquifer.

  41. DIOND on August 2, 2022 at 3:30 pm

    Who cares about a damn flower🤦

  42. meanuncledavid on August 2, 2022 at 3:31 pm

    I stoped watching once I saw they were wearing masks in the Nevada desert with just two people out there. Then the climate crisis lie started. Lame hippie propaganda. Thought it would be more educational.

  43. Ed Stallion on August 2, 2022 at 3:32 pm

    I’ll be packing my bags soon on my way to sunny Nevada.

  44. MrKaili808 on August 2, 2022 at 3:33 pm

    Nurses the plant and propagate as many as you while mining to have plant stock to replant as the mine is recovered back to a natural landscape.

  45. Martin Rios on August 2, 2022 at 3:35 pm

    Omg, americans are so decadent

  46. Laura Anderson on August 2, 2022 at 3:36 pm

    Why doesn’t anyone ever talk about Stanley Myer’s water powered car… oh wait… water is free… oil, gas, and lithium costs money and can be ripped out of the earth by mega-corporations to distract us from better alternatives… fuckers…

  47. mike moore on August 2, 2022 at 3:36 pm

    Its just a flower.
    Drive an electric car.

  48. The Trump News Network on August 2, 2022 at 3:36 pm

    This is propaganda … wake up folks you’re being conditioned to accept a different kind of planet destruction.

  49. rmarbertin8 on August 2, 2022 at 3:37 pm

    So "technically", that water _could_ be used for agriculture instead, if for some reason food and water becomes more important than e-vehicles, or perhaps de-desertification, for the carbon capturing benefits of good old fashioned plant plants.

  50. Amun Ra on August 2, 2022 at 3:38 pm

    Lithium carbonate is now going for $65,000 per ton. Kinda want to drive up to those pools with a couple of 5 gallon buckets and walk away with a quick $3,000 dollars.

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