Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID UT_2025_Su

Identify, Quantify and Recover Critical Metals/Metalloids from the Great Salt Lake

Institute: Utah
Year Established: 2025 Start Date: 2026-01-01 End Date: 2026-12-31
Total Federal Funds: $32,000 Total Non-Federal Funds: $32,093

Principal Investigators: Yiming Su

Project Summary: Metals like lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, and rare earth elements are vital for high-tech industries, and countries worldwide are seeking reliable sources. Utah's Great Salt Lake (GSL) is known to contain lithium and magnesium, which are currently being extracted. However, other valuable metals in the lake are often ignored and sometimes even considered pollutants. As demand for these resources grows, it is important to understand how much of these other metals enter and are stored in the GSL's water and sediments. This information is crucial for managing mineral resource extraction activities responsibly. Furthermore, the shrinking lake makes it even more urgent to develop methods that extract these metals and metalloids using less water. This project will examine the amounts, distribution, and sources of these important metals in the GSL. We will also create new, environmentally friendly techniques to extract them from the lake water, and possibly the sediments