by MEC407
Here's something I didn't have on my 2021 bingo card:
The richest lithium deposit in the world has been discovered in Maine:
Assuming the political hurdles can be overcome, I wonder how all that lithium would be transported to wherever it needs to go.
There are no active rail lines abutting Plumbago Mountain, but the mountain is tantalizingly close to the St. Lawrence & Atlantic mainline and the Pan Am Rumford Branch. Depending on which highways they used, the mountain is either 16 miles or 11 miles by truck to the SLR mainline in Bethel. It's about 18 miles by truck to the PAR Rumford Branch in Rumford.
Bethel is closer, but my gut tells me Rumford would be more receptive to an industrial operation of this size and scale.
The richest lithium deposit in the world has been discovered in Maine:
The Maine Monitor wrote:NEWRY — The richest known hard rock lithium deposit in the world lies a few miles northeast of the ski slopes of Sunday River and not far from Step Falls, where swimmers can wade in shallow pools formed by hundreds of feet of cascading granite ledge.Link to full article: https://www.themainemonitor.org/stagger ... challenge/
Smaller deposits have been known in Maine for decades, but this recent discovery, just north of Plumbago Mountain in Newry, is the first to have a major resource potential.
And that potential is staggering: At current market prices, the deposit, thought to contain 11 million tons of ore, is valued at roughly $1.5 billion.
. . .
“This is going to be a very important source of lithium in the future,” said Dr. William “Skip” Simmons, a mineralogist at the University of New Orleans and co-author on a recent paper describing the findings.
. . .
Lithium is prized because it is lightweight and can store lots of energy, making it an important component in batteries for electric vehicles and as reservoirs for excess energy generated by wind turbines and solar panels. Demand for lithium-ion batteries is expected to grow between five- and 10-fold by the end of the decade, and the world must ramp up production quickly to move away from fossil fuels.
Assuming the political hurdles can be overcome, I wonder how all that lithium would be transported to wherever it needs to go.
There are no active rail lines abutting Plumbago Mountain, but the mountain is tantalizingly close to the St. Lawrence & Atlantic mainline and the Pan Am Rumford Branch. Depending on which highways they used, the mountain is either 16 miles or 11 miles by truck to the SLR mainline in Bethel. It's about 18 miles by truck to the PAR Rumford Branch in Rumford.
Bethel is closer, but my gut tells me Rumford would be more receptive to an industrial operation of this size and scale.
MEC407
Moderator:
Pan Am Railways — Boston & Maine/Maine Central — Delaware & Hudson
Central Maine & Quebec/Montreal, Maine & Atlantic/Bangor & Aroostook
Providence & Worcester — New England — GE Locomotives
Moderator:
Pan Am Railways — Boston & Maine/Maine Central — Delaware & Hudson
Central Maine & Quebec/Montreal, Maine & Atlantic/Bangor & Aroostook
Providence & Worcester — New England — GE Locomotives