Alberta's oil field wastewater contains nearly $1 trillion in lithium reserves, province confirms
By
@autonocion
Front-window bakery material. Catches the eye, delivers the goods.
Summary
Alberta, Canada's oil-rich province, has discovered that the salty wastewater (brine) pumped up alongside crude oil contains significant lithium deposits. For decades, this lithium was considered waste because there was no economical way to separate it. However, with advances in direct lithium extraction technology and growing demand for EV batteries, the province has now valued these lithium reserves at close to a trillion dollars. This represents a major economic opportunity for Alberta to diversify beyond fossil fuels and become a key player in the clean energy supply chain, though challenges around extraction technology, environmental concerns, and market dynamics remain.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledFor decades, the crews working those fields knew there was lithium dissolved in the salty water that gets pumped up alongside the crude... They just had no economical way to separate it, so it stayed down there as a geological curiosity nobody could put on a balance sheet.
This spring, the province finally put a number on that curiosity, and it turned out to be worth close to a trillion dollars.
The same metal that ends up in just about every EV battery on the road.
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