Pennsylvania could be at the center of America's new 'white gold rush' with the discovery of a major untapped source of lithium in the state.
Government scientists have shown that they can filter the precious metal from the state's shale gas wastewater: pulling tons of lithium per day, with little left behind.
With 72 proposed lithium mines across the US, the discovery could help reduce local ecological fallout as America shifts away from 'greenhouse gas'-emitting fossil fuels.
Over 1,200 tons of lithium could be recovered per year from Pennsylvania's fracking wastewater alone, according to the new research, produced in collaboration by the US National Energy Technology Laboratory and the University of Pittsburgh.
The simple act of injecting fracking wells with high-pressured water has acted to pull much of that lithium metal out of the rock and into the fracking wastewater.
The nation only makes up about one percent of the global lithium production - while China has dominated the market for decades because 90 percent of the metal mined is refined in their nation.
Approximately 40 of the 72 proposed lithium mines in the US are set for Nevada, America's driest state, and 80 percent of them would sit on water supplies deemed at risk of low water levels, according to an analysis by the Howard Center for investigative journalism.
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