lithium

A lithium mine in Serbia could rev up Europe's e-vehicles, but opposition is fierce

5:00am August 23, 2024

A proposed lithium mine in Serbia is spurring protests over its potential impact on the environment. The mineral is in high demand because it’s crucial for the batteries that run electric vehicles.

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World News

Thousands protest against lithium mining in Serbia

3:01am August 11, 2024

by The Associated Press

Officials and state-controlled media have launched a major campaign against the rally, comparing it to the uprising in Ukraine that led to the fall of that country's then pro-Russia president in 2013.

In western Arizona, Ivan Bender, a Hualapai tribal member, points to an area, bordering Hualapai land, where an Australian mining company is exploring for lithium - a key metal in electric vehicle batteries.

Demand for minerals sparks fear of mining abuses on Indigenous peoples' lands

5:00am January 29, 2024

by Julia Simon

There's a growing demand for minerals as the world ramps up manufacturing of climate solutions. Experts say more than half of these mining projects are on or near lands of Indigenous peoples.

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Climate change is driving more frequent and intense wildfires. Companies and researchers are using AI to both detect wildfires early, and to help prevent megafires.

Environment

4 ways AI can help with climate change, from detecting methane to preventing fires

5:01am January 02, 2024

by Julia Simon

Many companies, researchers and governments are using artificial intelligence as a tool to help with climate solutions. Here are four ways AI is now used to combat global warming.

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The waters of the Ha' Kamwe' hot springs are healing and sacred, says Ivan Bender, the caretaker of the Cholla Canyon Ranch, which belongs to the Hualapai Tribe. Less than a hundred yards away, an Australian mining company called Arizona Lithium has been exploring for lithium.

The U.S. needs minerals for green tech. Will Western mines have enough water?

2:42pm September 26, 2023

by Julia Simon

As the U.S. plans new mines for copper, lithium and other metals to use in green technologies, mining projects in the West could threaten scarce water supplies.

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Josh Dini and Gary McKinney protest a planned lithium mine outside a federal appeals court in California in June.

National

Tribes object. But a federal ruling approves construction of the largest lithium mine

7:43pm July 17, 2023

by Kirk Siegler

A federal appeals court on Monday denied a last-ditch effort by tribes to block construction of what's likely to be the largest lithium mine in North America on federal land in Nevada.

A worker performs maintenance on pipes used during brine extraction at a lithium mine in the Atacama Desert in Chile on Aug. 24.

In Chile's desert lie vast reserves of lithium — key for electric car batteries

6:00am September 24, 2022

by John Otis

Chile is part of a South American region known as the "lithium triangle," where miners are trying to meet skyrocketing demand for the material.

Lithium: A Doctor, a Drug, and a Breakthrough, by Walter A. Brown

'Lithium' Is A Homage To A Drug — And To The Renegade Side Of Science

1:05pm August 14, 2019

by Etelka Lehoczky

By celebrating those who applied the substance as a drug, Walter A. Brown aims to raise awareness — and to demolish what remains of the myth that scientific progress is driven by rigorous dispassion.