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Topics: Science, Technology
Callum Jones
Topics: Science, Technology
A scientist has explained the huge stumbling block in accessing the much-talked about $540,000,000,000 'white gold' discovery.
It's believed both Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are the real winners after a study revealed astonishing quantities of 'white gold' at the bottom of a lake.
The mine has been known about for a while, but experts' most recent findings suggest that its lithium contents could be worth a staggering $540 billion.
For context, this would be enough to power more than 382 million batteries for electric vehicles, essentially changing the way we travel as we know it.
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"There's potentially enough lithium down there to supply batteries for 382 million electric vehicles, which is more, more vehicles than there are on the road in the United States today," said Sammy Roth, climate columnist for the Los Angeles Times.
"So, if we could get all that lithium, that'd be huge."
Many believe both Musk and Bezos can benefit from the find due to the fact they are both involved in electric cars with their own companies.
Musk is the head honcho of Tesla after founding the car giant in 2003, while Bezos is a key investor in Rivian.
While the Twitter owner and Amazon boss may be hoping to get their hands on the goods pretty sharpish, a scientist has detailed a huge stumbling block that may stop the pair in their tracks.
Pat Dobson, a Berkeley Lab staff scientist, told SFGATE that retrieving the lithium is 'no simple task'.
So, how will it all work?
Well, SFGATE reports that geothermal production wells will extract the lithium-rich brine from thousands of feet below the Earth's surface.
The lithium is then dissolved from the brine, allowing the liquid to then be pumped underground to complete the mission, according to Dobson.
While the scientist described the water consumption for the operation as the 'main impact', he didn't go into detail with SFGATE on where the water would be sourced from.
Press officer for the Imperial Irrigation District, Robert Schettler, told the outlet that the Colorado River is the region’s only water supply.
So, while Bezos and Musk are waiting for that, they have other plans for electric vehicle businesses.
As it stands, Tesla gets some of its lithium from China, while Rivian is said to have recently signed a five-year deal with LG Energy Solution, which is headquartered in South Korea, as per Utility Drive.