It could soon be time for a "white gold" rush in the Appalachian Mountains.
The U.S. Geological Survey revealed the region might contain a whopping 2.3 million metric tons of previously undiscovered lithium.
As the New York Post calculated, it could be worth in the neighborhood of $65 billion.
The lithium in the East Coast mountain range is primarily found in the Carolinas, Maine, and New Hampshire. If the 2.3 million metric tons pan out, it would provide enough of the mineral to cover 328 years of imports at 2025's level, per the USGS.
"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," remarked USGS Director Ned Mamula in a news release.
According to the USGS' Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026, Australia is the leading producer of lithium, accounting for nearly a third of global supply.
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However, China closely follows, and its rate of lithium refining and consumption is on the rise due to its rapid deployment of battery-powered tech, including electric vehicles.
The staggering amount of lithium potentially lying in the Appalachians could power 1.6 million grid-scale batteries, 130 million EVs, 180 billion laptops, and 500 billion cell phones, as the USGS estimated.
That boost in capacity is especially important as the USGS projects that lithium production capacity will double by 2029 due to growing demand for these products.
To gauge the lithium content within these mountains, USGS scientists utilized various tools, including geologic maps, tectonic history, geochemical sampling, geophysical surveys, and mineral occurrence records.
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After conducting simulations, they got to the 2.3 million metric tons estimate, presenting it with a 50% confidence interval that indicates higher or lower levels are equally likely.
Even if the estimates fall short, this find is massive for the domestic mining industry and the tech dependent on lithium-ion batteries.
"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," Mamula concluded.
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