USGS Finds 2.3 Million Metric Tons of Lithium Beneath Appalachia, Including Carolinas

A new analysis by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) says lithium deposits beneath parts of the Appalachian region could supply the United States with critical battery materials for centuries. The USGS identifies about 2.3 million metric tons of lithium oxide stored in pegmatite rock formations across the eastern U.S., particularly in the Carolinas, with additional deposits in western Maine and New Hampshire. The scale is framed as enough to replace roughly 328 years of U.S. lithium imports at current demand levels, and the deposits could produce enough lithium for about 500 billion smartphones, billions of laptops and tablets, or batteries powering around 130 million electric vehicles. USGS Director Ned Mamula said, "This research shows that the Appalachians contain enough lithium to help meet the nation's growing needs - a major contribution to U.S. mineral security, at a time when global lithium demand is rising rapidly."

Coverage of the discovery ties the USGS estimates to a specific North Carolina project, with the Kings Mountain lithium mine in Cleveland County described as clearing a key permit weeks earlier. The Kings Mountain lithium mine was dormant since the 1980s until the U.S. Department of Defense in 2023 agreed to purchase $90 million in lithium from the 800-acre Albemarle site off Interstate 85, about 35 miles west of Charlotte. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin called the newly identified Appalachian deposit a “great find,” saying it could help the United States reduce its reliance on China for critical minerals essential to modern technology. Zeldin said, "When we have our own resources within our own country, we should not only be extracting them here — we should be processing them here."

The sources link the Appalachian resource estimates to ongoing supply-chain concerns, including the claim that China dominates global battery production and has about 60% of the world's lithium refining capacity for batteries. One report says the U.S. currently produces only about 610 metric tons of lithium—roughly 0.3% of global output—while most refining and manufacturing occurs overseas, and it adds that extracting lithium from Appalachian pegmatites may be technically complex and costly. Another outlet says the lithium is estimated to be worth more than $64 billion, and it describes federal permitting progress for the Kings Mountain Lithium project in late March to resume open-pit mining. The stakes are framed as mineral security and reduced import dependence, with USGS Director Ned Mamula saying, "The United States was the dominant world producer of lithium three decades ago, and this research highlights the abundant potential to reclaim our mineral independence."

“- 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”

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