The US Geological Survey this week announced that the Appalachian region contains an estimated 2.3 million metric tons of undiscovered, economically recoverable lithium, enough to replace 328 years of US imports at last year’s level, and sufficient to power 130 million electric vehicles or 1.6 million grid-scale batteries. The USGS projects global lithium production capacity will double by 2029 on rising demand, driven by EVs, energy storage, and AI data centers. The US imported nearly $85 million worth of lithium-ion batteries from China over the past year, and while the US imports its raw lithium carbonate primarily from Chile and Argentina, China dominates global refining and the supply of finished batteries.
The Appalachian find, while significant, is actually the third major US lithium discovery in recent years. The McDermitt Caldera on the Nevada-Oregon border is estimated to hold between 20 and 40 million metric tons of lithium-rich clay, potentially worth $1.5 trillion at current prices, and may be the largest single lithium deposit ever found. A separate USGS assessment in 2024 estimated 5 to 19 million metric tons in brine deposits in southwestern Arkansas.
Taken together, the US is sitting on an enormous lithium endowment. Despite this, the US today has exactly one operating lithium mine and produced just 610 metric tons in 2024, representing 0.3% of global output. As of August 2025 only three lithium projects were officially under construction. Developing a lithium project from discovery to production typically takes a decade or more, thanks to environmental-related regulatory hurdles. Three decades ago, the US was the world's dominant lithium producer. It has the deposits necessary to reclaim that title, but it will need federal investment and regulatory unlock in order to achieve it anytime soon.
