A stretch of desert in Southern California has begun to stir with the same energy that once pulled thousands of hopeful prospectors westward with pickaxes and dreams of striking it rich. The ground may look quiet, but far beneath the surface lies a mineral now nicknamed "white gold." Lithium, the soft silvery metal powering batteries in everything from smartphones to electric vehicles, has turned the region surrounding the Salton Sea into one of the most closely watched resource zones in the United States.
Government scientists confirmed in 2023 that geothermal brine beneath the Salton Sea could contain roughly 18 million metric tons of lithium, an amount valued at hundreds of billions of dollars. The deposit is so large that it could supply batteries for about 375 million electric vehicles, exceeding the number of cars currently on American roads.
