Jackpot in the Mountains: The Lithium Surprise Hiding in Appalachia

Since President Trump resumed office in January of 2025, "Drill, baby, drill" has become the order of the day and something of a rallying cry for the petroleum industry. But its corollary is "Mine, baby, mine," and while perhaps not as high-profile a mission, it's still yielding benefits for the American economy and our energy independence. It's good for America.

In the latest news from this front, while it has been long known that there were deposits of lithium in American Appalachia, on Wednesday, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum took to his official X account to announce that these deposits are considerably larger than previously thought.

🚨 @USGS has found that the Appalachian region of the U.S. contains enough lithium to replace 328 YEARS of imports!

Thanks to world-leading mineral science, permitting reform and renewed investment in domestic mining, @POTUS has reclaimed America's mineral independence. pic.twitter.com/INis76fW6o
— Secretary Doug Burgum (@SecretaryBurgum) April 28, 2026

A press release issued Tuesday by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) has more details.

The southern Appalachians hold an estimated 1.43 million metric tons of lithium oxide, concentrated in the Carolinas, and the northern Appalachians hold an estimated 900,000 metric tons, concentrated in Maine and New Hampshire, according to estimates in a new USGS scientific paper published in Natural Resources Research. The lithium is present in pegmatites, large-grained rocks similar to granite.
“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,” said USGS Director Ned Mamula. “USGS mineral science is the leading edge in the effort to restore America’s mineral independence by mapping our nation’s mineral resources. Everything else follows on the science: permitting reform and other policy changes to support investment in clean, responsible mining to 21^st century standards, and mining workforce training for new American jobs. 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.”

This is, as someone once said, a big freakin' deal.

Alaska Antimony Breakthrough: Felix Reveals New Direct Smelting Path

Lithium has a wide range of uses. Aside from batteries for everything ranging from smartphones to electric vehicles, lithium is used to make heat-resistant glass and ceramics, lubricants, pharmaceuticals (lithium salts are widely used to treat bipolar disorder and depression), metal alloys, and a lot more. And, at the moment, we import the vast majority of the lithium used in the United States, mostly from Chile and Argentina. These are (mostly) friendly countries, so it's perhaps better than getting it from China, but foreign sources can be cut off, relationships can change, and other countries can outbid us. Domestic supplies are secure.

Furthermore, much of Appalachia has substantial mining infrastructure in place. These finds will not only provide a secure domestic source of a vital, strategic resource but also revitalize the mining sector in Appalachia, which means "jobs, baby, jobs."

According to USGS, this find would yield enough lithium to make:

The estimated 2.3 million metric tons of lithium oxide in the Appalachian region would be enough lithium for batteries in:
1.6 million grid-scale batteries large enough to stabilize an electric grid
130 million electric vehicles
180 billion laptops, or a 1,000 year-supply of laptops for the world (at 2025 levels)
500 billion cellphones, or 60 cellphones for each person on earth

Tired of winning yet?

Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump’s leadership and bold policies, America’s economy is back on track.

Help us continue to report on the president’s economic successes and combat the lies of the Democrats. Join RedState VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.