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Silver: The Undercover Super Metal

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Silver: The Undercover Super Metal

Silver: The Undercover Super Metal

Silver has a reputation for being gold’s less desirable sister, but make no mistake, silver may still be a golden opportunity to invest in.

You might be surprised to know that silver plays a part in many everyday things you use, especially electronics. Silver has the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of all metals. The use of silver is very prevalent in the photography, consumer electronics, medical, and high tech industries.

A huge future super consumer of silver will be the green technology sector. The primary technology that converts the energy of light into electricity in solar panels is solar cells, also known as photovoltaic cells. Silver is the primary ingredient used in these cells; depending on the type, up to 90% of the cell may be silver. Future silver consumption by the solar energy industry is estimated to be 100 million ounces by 2015.

Another area silver may be set to gain steam is in batteries. Lithium ion batteries were first commercialized over 20 years ago by Sony, which makes them very old from a tech perspective. Many concerns have also been raised about their safety. Some research is showing that silver oxide and silver-zinc batteries might be a substitute. Imagine if a company such as Tesla switched to using silver as a main component of their batteries. Hint: they just ordered 2 billion automotive-grade lithium ion cells from Panasonic.

Original graphic from: sbcgold.com

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Mining

White Gold: Mapping U.S. Lithium Mines

In this graphic, Visual Capitalist partnerered with EnergyX to explore the size and location of U.S. lithium mines.

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Teaser graphic of a map that shows the sizes of the top U.S. lithium mines.

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The following content is sponsored by EnergyX

White Gold: Mapping U.S. Lithium Mines

The U.S. doubled imports of lithium-ion batteries for the third consecutive year in 2022, and with EV demand growing yearly, U.S. lithium mines must ramp up production or rely on other nations for their supply of refined lithium.

To determine if the domestic U.S. lithium opportunity can meet demand, we partnered with EnergyX to determine how much lithium sits within U.S. borders. 

U.S. Lithium Projects

The most crucial measure of a lithium mine’s potential is the quantity that can be extracted from the source.

For each lithium resource, the potential volume of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) was calculated with a ratio of one metric ton of lithium producing 5.32 metric tons of LCE. Cumulatively, existing U.S. lithium projects contain 94.8 million metric tons of LCE.

RankProject NameLCE, million metric tons (est.)
1McDermitt Caldera21.5
2Thacker Pass19.1
3Tonopah Flats18.0
4TLC Lithium10.7
5Clayton Valley (Century Lithium)6.3
6Zeus Lithium6.3
7Rhyolite Ridge3.4
8Arkansas Smackover (Phase 1A)2.8
9Basin Project2.2
10McGee Deposit2.1
11Arkansas Smackover (South West)1.8
12Clayton Valley (Lithium-X, Pure Energy)0.8
13Big Sandy0.3
14Imperial Valley/Salton Sea0.3

U.S. Lithium Opportunities, By State

U.S. lithium projects mainly exist in western states, with comparatively minor opportunities in central or eastern states.

StateLCE, million metric tons (est.)
Nevada88.2
Arkansas4.6
Arizona2.5
California0.3

Currently, the U.S. is sitting on a wealth of lithium that it is underutilizing. For context, in 2022, the U.S. only produced about 5,000 metric tons of LCE and imported a projected 19,000 metric tons of LCE, showing that the demand for the mineral is healthy.  

The Next Gold Rush?

U.S. lithium companies have the opportunity to become global leaders in lithium production and accelerate the transition to sustainable energy sources. This is particularly important as the demand for lithium is increasing every year.

EnergyX is on a mission to meet U.S. lithium demands using groundbreaking technology that can extract 300% more lithium from a source than traditional methods.

You can take advantage of this opportunity by investing in EnergyX and joining other significant players like GM in becoming a shareholder.

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