The US just found millions of tons of lithium in Appalachia, enough for 500 billion cellphones — and experts say it could power the next century of American tech and weaken China's grip on batteries

Miners hold in their hands platinum or silver or rare earth minerals found in the mine for inspection and consideration.

• Lithium deposits identified across Appalachia could supply hundreds of years of imports
• Domestic discoveries across multiple states point to expanding lithium exploration efforts
• Extraction capacity remains the biggest challenge despite large confirmed resource estimates

Lithium buried beneath parts of the Appalachian region could supply the United States with hundreds of years of material essential for batteries, electronics, and large-scale energy storage systems.