U.S. Looks to Seawater Extraction to Break China’s Mineral Monopoly

The current supply chain for clean energy components is heavily concentrated in China, which processes roughly 68 percent of the world’s cobalt and 60 percent of battery-grade lithium. This dominance creates a strategic vulnerability for Western economies, as any disruption in exports could stall climate initiatives and jeopardize industrial stability. While the International Energy Agency projects that global demand for these minerals could quadruple by 2040, the United States has struggled to keep pace with the infrastructure required to secure domestic alternatives.

The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has introduced a co-flow reactor designed to extract magnesium hydroxide from seawater. By cycling seawater and sodium hydroxide through a specialized system, the process produces a resource that is currently imported in massive quantities. Preliminary analysis suggests that integrating this technology into California’s Carlsbad desalination facility could yield over 1 million pounds of magnesium hydroxide daily—more than triple the current daily U.S. consumption. Because seawater chemistry remains relatively consistent globally, PNNL researchers believe the modular design allows for rapid deployment at other coastal sites. According to chemical oceanographer Jessica Cross, the ocean holds a vast enough supply of magnesium and lithium to satisfy human demand for over 50,000 years if extraction methods can be scaled effectively.