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. bowlinglefty on October 2, 2021 at 9:42 am

    I thought there was a drought out in Nevada. Looks like there’s plenty of water.

  2. Philip Lapierre on October 2, 2021 at 9:43 am

    You people are a bunch of liars. Most of the lithium that we use comes from the Congo. Only a small percentage comes from first world countries. It’s too expensive to mine for cobalt in a first world country because of workers unions, insurance, and the cost of clean up. Those mines are highly toxic, and bad for the environment. I’m not surprised that the media is trying to shine a positive light on these mines seeing as the C.E.O’s that own these media corporations have a huge investment into these mining companies and Politicians that support those investments.
    Just remember. That huge battery that’s in your Tesla, or Chevy Volt, was brought to by a group of Africans risking their lives with no safety gear for only three dollars a day. I bet most of you liberals won’t look up lithium mines in Africa. This whole green energy via environmentally friendly electric cars is a political, and corporate sham.

  3. joe diver on October 2, 2021 at 9:43 am

    Evaporation , ? food batteries ? hum? wake up

  4. New Mind on October 2, 2021 at 9:45 am

    Wait for méxico.

  5. Tony Zamora on October 2, 2021 at 9:48 am

    Im just glad they had their masks on!

  6. imperial.shredded.pilot on October 2, 2021 at 9:48 am

    C.SPMT

  7. Michael Ramos on October 2, 2021 at 9:48 am

    Holy Spirit GOD Watsonville , California . The Sincerely prophecy and Prophesy and Prophet ISRAEL Michael Ramos ORAMOS PRINCE.

  8. Eloign Renitent on October 2, 2021 at 9:49 am

    The flower is stopping us becoming energy independent? Dude…

  9. rob379 on October 2, 2021 at 9:50 am

    WTF? Absolute B.S. open your eyes.

  10. Robert Miller on October 2, 2021 at 9:52 am

    I know whats more environmental. OIL AND GAS. And plants breath carbon.

  11. chris kel on October 2, 2021 at 9:52 am

    Smells like it will all end bad to me.And Biden carnt be trusted ,climate change lol . like he’s arsed .Look how he handled Afghanistan !

  12. Zachary Beaudoin on October 2, 2021 at 9:52 am

    Not using “water” that can be used for agriculture…… this country has gone bat shut crazy

  13. Bjwilkes3 on October 2, 2021 at 9:55 am

    All this for batteries, yet what’s charging them? Mostly coal and oil.

  14. Ivoy Luo on October 2, 2021 at 9:55 am

    Her voice is a cartoon voice

  15. rsuninv on October 2, 2021 at 9:56 am

    The dude with the cowboy hat and truck is an absolute joke. Advocacy?? Give me a break.

  16. prasad Kadu on October 2, 2021 at 9:56 am

    Quite good narrator , i like her style of talking

  17. Eric's Commentaries on October 2, 2021 at 9:57 am

    "We can regulate that"…. the government isnt a pressure valve. it is a series of beauracracies. Usually "Regulate", from a government standpoint, just means, "how much can we charge these businesses for an ‘Exception”?". the best regulation is competition between businesses as consumers purchase from the business who does their job in a more clean fashion.

  18. Silva Pereira on October 2, 2021 at 9:57 am

    Cars ev= covid
    Ev🤮🤮🤮💩💩💩💩

  19. J P R on October 2, 2021 at 9:59 am

    Nurses are better

  20. Karthikeyan Anbukkarasan on October 2, 2021 at 9:59 am

    Even we all shift to electric vehicle, after watching this video no one cannot stop environment pollution.

  21. nilts1975 on October 2, 2021 at 10:01 am

    James Calaway has no care for the environment. Leave lithium for the Aussies. They get it without wasting precious water and without impacting flora or fauna.

  22. Sean Owens on October 2, 2021 at 10:03 am

    So let me get this right -we are holding up a process that could help revolutionize our economy and provide a whole new "green" industry within our country so that we can protect a bunch of glorified weeds that sit in a desert where no one lives.. This is why people vote for politicians like Trump.

  23. Robert Plansky on October 2, 2021 at 10:07 am

    This is a nice little advertisement for the lithium industry

  24. Ben Felts on October 2, 2021 at 10:09 am

    Sorry buckwheat u gotta Gooooo 😂

  25. UPstater5.9 on October 2, 2021 at 10:09 am

    Wow looks so green! All those huge diesel engines mining rock out of the earth destroying animal and plant habitats

  26. Nick Hahn on October 2, 2021 at 10:09 am

    Better and cleaner than coal. Not to mention lithium is 92% recyclable. Yet another weak argument by right being decimated by reality.

  27. Sayittomyface Idareyou on October 2, 2021 at 10:10 am

    So is this where my anti psychotic comes from

  28. STR on October 2, 2021 at 10:11 am

    "To save the planet" this is a lie. They don t care. Is another story in the back for sure.

  29. SmokeStack on October 2, 2021 at 10:11 am

    I do worry that people that criticize fossil fuel only do so because they’re invested in something else that could have potentially worse consequences if expanded. Too often we rely on studies conducted by industries themselves for information on the environmental effects of said industries. Just google search EV cars, wind power, solar, ect. Most of the results that pop up are ads from those industries that drown out any studies conducted from independent sources. No study into any subject can be trusted if it is funded by the industries it is researching. That’s like having a murderer investigate his/her own crime, but too often this is the only source of data.

  30. Amin Faraj on October 2, 2021 at 10:11 am

    Well it belongs to the original Americans not to the occupying force 🙄

  31. Titanium Mechanism on October 2, 2021 at 10:13 am

    7:10 The two things that made the report for me: 1. Her asking the right questions and 2. him, as the party who is concerned with protecting the wildlife, admitting that this may actually be the better option for the planet and that endangering that species may be a price worth paying. Also that ioneer chairman dude couldn’t possibly look less untrustworthy to environmentalists.

  32. Joseph McGee on October 2, 2021 at 10:15 am

    Gee this reporter isn’t biased or anything. We need to onshore production to make sure it’s done right??? Did the mining company pay her to say that or what?? 😆

  33. William Zander on October 2, 2021 at 10:15 am

    Salton sea has lithium but California will screw that up with protests .There will be all types of new advanced technology that the government will kill to control lithium.The rich 🤑
    Control it .

  34. Toro G on October 2, 2021 at 10:20 am

    Lies

  35. Carlos Acero on October 2, 2021 at 10:23 am

    Buy LTUM Stock

  36. Sukol Ponpojna on October 2, 2021 at 10:30 am

    #Patent Rights are Racism

  37. Christian Williams on October 2, 2021 at 10:30 am

    biden make my stomach hurt

  38. John Smith on October 2, 2021 at 10:30 am

    Everytime I hear the fossil medias speak, I realise that a guy who doesn’t even have a high school diploma like me is smarter than them

  39. Anthony on October 2, 2021 at 10:30 am

    Now "Nomadland" is such a touchstone that a landscape that has existed for hundreds of millions of years looks like "Nomadland"? What a weird culture we live in … And the reporter walks like a model … And of course there are the overabundance of drone shots … Lord help us, and save us from what lithium hath brought!

  40. Ice banna on October 2, 2021 at 10:33 am

    Can’t we just relocate the flower somewhere else with all the money that a lithium mine would generate

  41. Greg Sage on October 2, 2021 at 10:33 am

    Wonder when the black gold rush will be coming

  42. Rick Y on October 2, 2021 at 10:34 am

    Why did ABC fail to inquire about the loss of precious water in a time when Western states are facing a historical “mega drought” that may last for decades? If they would have done some research, they could have shown a mine that uses direct lithium extraction where the water is reclaimed and reinfected into the ground. For those interested here is a brief overview: https://youtu.be/u8-YDMzg2bY

  43. Jack Snow on October 2, 2021 at 10:34 am

    there is no "climate crisis" that is all political fascist bullshit! yes the climate is changing. it is getting colder which is bad. NOT hotter which would be better.

    stop believing these "government" traitors.

  44. speedoflight0124 Ins on October 2, 2021 at 10:36 am

    Her voice is kind of MEG from family guy

  45. Patrick Sloan on October 2, 2021 at 10:37 am

    This is very much a one sided report, practically free advertising for the mega mine corp. No mention of the water source or environmental issues outside of the a native flower.

  46. Live 2 Fly on October 2, 2021 at 10:38 am

    biggest load of bollocks since they said smoking was safe. lithium is a small part of a massive environmental catastrophe making these batteries. cobalt is far worse, toxic and biggest deposits in the most unstable countries in the world.
    kids digging the stuff up!
    can’t remember seeing children on oil rigs?
    can’t replace oil with something just as bad or worse

  47. Anthony Martinez on October 2, 2021 at 10:39 am

    A few weeds holding up a lithium mine? Only in this liberal ass country

  48. stephen1 shreve on October 2, 2021 at 10:40 am

    I thought white gold was coke😂

  49. Fr Benneth on October 2, 2021 at 10:40 am

    This is the hypocrisy of the so called Renewable Energy sources powered by batteries. Politicians tell people to make changes in their lives to save the planet, while mining companies like this are making billions of dollars from lithium ponds which are destroying the environment. Read about cobalt mines in the democratic republic of Congo, where child labour is used to extract cobalt which also powers your laptops and mobile phones. The level of destruction to the environment in those cobalt mines are unbelievable. Yet Politicians turn a blind eye to all that while promoting the so called “renewable energy” which is mostly powered by batteries made from lithium and cobalt.

  50. Patrick Sterling on October 2, 2021 at 10:41 am

    Why did you ruin an interesting story by putting Joe Biden on?

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