People Are Trying to Get Rich From a New ‘Gold Rush’ 

You'll notice in every "new gold rush" it's only the guy selling the shovels and beans that gets rich. Some corporation takes everything else, and the guy who dug for his fortune leaves as broke as he came.

So, for anyone who wants to know the order of operations a prospector will do research, walk the ground, look in the history books, etc. if they think there might be a deposit there, they stake the claim to give them rights to any _potential_ minerals in that zone. after staking, the prospector must then actually survey the ground and *find* any mineral deposits there, figure out how rich they are per ton, etc. if they find anything, they will then shop around to different mining companies and sell the claim to mechanical mining operations. from there, the mine must further research and explore the deposit. this will mean drilling hindered or thousands of core samples, either from the surface or punching in an adit and drilling a fan pattern. Then their geologists need to look at the samples to asses if the initial prospect results hold up to deeper scrutiny and figure out if the ore can be extracted profitably. it does no good extracting $1m of ore for $1.5m. Then they need to actually permit and develop a plan to make a viable mine. If you didn't know, a mine has to pay the cost of reclamation into escrow up front before any work has actually been done, so if anything happens, we the people don't foot the bill.

People acting like they care about the world and the population in the end what really matters is how much money they going to make it.

I don't get this. Why wouldn't someone hire a group of interns to just go out and stake ALL the land in a week flat? And if there is no central authority of DB of the staked claims, what is to prevent someone from ripping out other stakes they find? Or maybe that is the point: there needs to be more regulation?

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As pointed out in this video, electric cars aren't "green". They aren't sustainable. Public transit and train lines are the obvious and cost effective solutions for most of transportation.

Filmed at the Salton Sea before. Gnarly beautiful visuals. Tons of lithium out there for sure.

@5:58... Have you never seen the look of desperation before?

I'm not against going green but there is a downside to this so called "new gold rush" and that's because this "new gold rush" is also targeting sacred Native American land which mining companies would love to destroy to make a quick buck for example there's a lithium deposit under the black hills which has a sacred spiritual role in the tribal religions of several Native American tribes located in the area and desecrating it would be a great offense to those tribes. Same thing with oil companies as well, like I said I'm not against going green but i want it to be done in a way that doesn't result in the complete destruction of sacred Native American land or otherwise the country would end repeating the actions of the past. In which horrible atrocities where committed against Native Americans to make way for gold mining.

My suspicion is that emerging technologies will negate the usefulness of Lithium batteries with more available chemical compositions.

I moved to Tonopah a couple years ago. It's amazing how many people and companies past through this town with obvious dollars backing them looking for lithium. Some come and go quick. Others are more serious.

Lithium should not be considered green energy. Lithium mining and extraction is highly pollutive, destructive to landscape and habitats, very energy intensive, and requires a lot of water usage. It requires about 500k gallons of water to extract 1 ton of lithium. It's just another finite resource that causes a lot of harm to extract, but it has a good marketing campaign lumping it in with other technologies that are not so destructive.

In Australia they have a similar process for opal and gold grounds . Stake a square when previous claim expire

This approach to mining rights is insane. In so many ways the US is simply stuck in the 19th century.

Vice should've emptied the vault sooner lol some of the recent videos are really good

Good to see Randy Marsh moving on after the Tegridy Farm Fire

That was a good and informative video I never knew anything about staking a claim before. I figured those days were long gone

Rick sees dollar signs; I see uninhabitable earth.

5:25 the dramatic pause, right before he says…..”everybody’s life” 😂😂😂

Excellent video! The only aspect I'm missing is how foriegn mineral claims are made compared to the US. You do a great job of explaining the US system, and it does seem antiquated, but without a comparison I don't understand the degree to which it's outdated.

I definitely prefer the US oldschool method, instead of a huge corporation just saying, "aaaaaaaaaaaaaand we're taking half of this" and with the click of a button it's theirs suddenly.

Millions of tonnes of battery's available for recycling..that Tesla employee who made a start up is recycling 1% or less a day and gets 300+ tonne delivered daily .. I've got batteries coming out the wazzoo as I've been purchasing recycled batteries and breaking them down and testing them and refurbishing battery's and making power packs

What a coincidence I just watch a video on here about how India has a Lithium mine rush

It's how it's done here in Australia too. Just put a stake in the ground at least 1M high with your details on it then lodge it with the mining board.

Learned something new. Great video

Lithium will soon be obsolete. It simply does not pack the energy density needed to fuel the green energy revolution. It's like investing in VHS tape technology when Laser CD's are already around the corner.

Imagine banking your whole existence on federal government land

I much prefer the sodium battery. But because there is such an industry around it it might drag us all into its own market Ben if there is a better alternative. Thanks for the update.

Is Vice still in business then... I thought it had gone bankrupt? I hope not, it does some really good work!!!

gives a whole new meaning to the word stakeholder

Imma gonna miss ya, Vice! :😢

Lithium extraction seems very destructive to an area….there needs to be a better option.

We got so much rain that people are slussing in the Sierras again, and I thought that this was the topic. I'm really glad it wasn't.

I fail to see how an individual could possibly hope to 'get rich' by finding a new lithium sources. There are conglomerates and very large companies who are busy digging up lithium ore, and exporting it to China for refinement. These companies should, in my opinion, be exploring the option of domestic commercial refinement. It would be difficult given the huge difference in labour costs, but an analysis should prove whether or not this would be viable in the future, especially given the tensions between China and everyone else. These organisations, mining companies, also have the money, resources, equipment, to do geological surveys on a scale that an individual could never hope to match. Some *may scrape a meagre living by doing it the hard way, or through back-door channels, but I would envisage those few and far between, if they existed at all, and any gains would not make the endeavour payable. The best way to cash in on the lithium 'rush' is to go over old gold mining maps, and try to locate places where the old miners in the 80's abandoned an area because another area much richer had been found elsewhere, and not far away. :: Reading a report from a mining inspector who went all over every gold-field in Victoria, Australia, in the late 1800's, briefly touched upon one of these places. I will paraphrase it, as I cannot be bothered to get the book and type it verbatim: -- About 5 miles from [town], at Site A, the miners were digging down ~15' to recover the wash-dirt. 20 'buckets' (undefined amount) of such pay dirt then had to be carted to water, for a price, for gold recovery, and those 20 buckets yielded ~5 Ozs on average. A few miles away, another area, Site B, was discovered where similar, or better, pay dirt was found much closer to the surface, and as such the miners from Site A abandoned their digging, simply packing up and moved to Site B. The cost of carting the pay dirt from Site A proved to negate the ~5 Ozs they were getting per 20 buckets. :: Many years ago when I used to visit old gold fields, mostly looking for discarded artefacts, I also did my best to locate Site A, based upon maps of that time compared to modern maps. I believe I did find that place, which spans both local council and private land, and as such would take resources I simply do not have to try and exploit this area, even with modern machinery making digging at that depth child's play. But others continue to find sizable nuggets, both within Victoria's Golden Triangle, and in Western Australia.

Vince ramirez straight looks like he just trying to get rich.

A better battery is coming this decade that does not use Lithium. Cash in and cash out while you can. Many next gen batteries are cleaner with common materials that have been tested, but none have reached scalability and production yet. When it happens, bigger + cheaper batteries are going to change transportation and mobile technology in big ways.

This was the first time I’ve seen a one minute non-skip ad on RU-vid

*I believe the BIG challenge is to develop new "clean" ways to extract Lithium without trashing the rest of the environment in the process.* At some point, the American system will be dragged, kicking and screaming into modern times. America needs knowledgeable educated people to make laws to safely govern modern activities like mining and internet business.

Ah, the iron clad law of 'finders keepers'...

Socialize the mining industry and use the profits to pay for a universal health care system.

6:15 dude is never gonna touch lithium

That mining convention was filled with nothing but Agent Smiths.

It's nice to see the Heartland chasing an element besides fentanyl for a change.

Only rare thing I saw were a couple of Dodge Vipers parked in a small town.

Yea they did the whole online claims thing up north here. Huge swaths of land all claimed up, block after block around my area. I can't even load all the claim blocks in some areas before my phone freezes up. There could be someone in China click click click. Wish we still had physical staking here. Maybe it's old fashioned but it prevents bs like that from happening.

Laughs a lot like Chevy Chase's crazy laugh.

All I know is I'm more interested in Toyota's future in hydrogen fueled cars than EV's. EV's are (in my opinion) an absolute meme and just a fun alternative. If EV's are ever actually allowed or forced unto people to become the standard, we're going to see so much pollution and chaos from spent batteries from the lack of recycling. Hydrogen is quite literally the only answer for mass adoption of an alternative from of energy for vehicular transportation, unless we stay with the modern combustible engine.

Lithiom is a dead market once the nuclear battery takes hold.

I wanna know more about the claiming issue. Like, they'll have to pay a certain sum to the Federal Government for their claim, right? And what if someone just comes around and removes the post to put his own, or moves their post like half a mile or something?

Lithium is not an efficient way of storing large amounts of energy.

its weird but its very american like the guy said. its entrepeneureal spirit. however like the blonde lady said there needs to be federal level representation for mining workers also. its good money for both

My issue is more in the effects of mining not how we stake land

Lithium in your blood can make you nuts, take a look around you. 😅😅😅

So what stops me from packing up all my tools, driving out there and ripping up all the wooden stakes and replacing them with mine?

I e been saying this about Lithium mining for a long time. It’s just as destructive for the environment as oil and gas. I get in the long term it’s better for the environment, but barely. Not to mention your giant gas and oil corporations are getting into lithium business as well.

I need to start selling shovels now!

So nationalise it. We need to think long term. If 90% of the minerals can be recycled we don't need a free for all source fiding.

2:50 a laugh straight out of Red Dead Redemption.

*Daniel Plainview voice* Ladies and gentlemen, I consider myself a lithium man.

So, what prevents someone from just staking out all the land? Max size and time?

The fact that the mining of lithium is just as bad as the usage of gasoline in vehicles for the environment has me skeptical. This is a fact that seems to go overlooked by many.

So when they stake a claim... and put one of those poles in the ground... how many feet/ yard/ miles in circumference do they have ownership of???

After they destroy the landscape, it should be required the area gets repurposed for massive solar farms.

That's trust system must really work, because how????

As someone who studies geology and economic geology, and is very familiar with the earlier Cenozoic and Quaternary geology of the Western Interior, I was interested to see that former oil exec looking at claims in relation to maps of the vast former (Pleistocene) pluvial lakes of the Great Basin. Follow deposits of the Mid-Tertiary Ignimbrite Flareup (and later silicic volcanism of the Great Basin, High Desert, and SRP) and ancient Pleistocene pluvial watersheds, and you find the lithium…

When did non skippable ads get longer than 30 seconds?

That can’t be true. It would be totally absurd to be able to claim land as your own simply by driving a stake into the ground.

1:48 not one, but *two* Dodge Vipers, an RT/10 and a GTS. Nice.

Good to see were being dependent on our own resources

The corruption isn’t by accident it’s the main feature.

?? What is stopping anyone from driving around and just ripping out all of those red painted posts and throwing them in the back of their truck, (to be burnt or buried later) or putting those stakes in a different area, (a mile away) and then putting their own stakes in that spot... doesn't look like they have any cameras or drones keeping 24/7 surveillance of their claim. (The new guy that put his new stakes in that spot could just say there were no posts when he showed up.)

Having a Husky in Nevada? Geart 👏

If you go out there, be careful, a series of events will have you fighting for life

Not only is it the same mining process as always digging up the earth but they can't recycle lithium yet

Lithium is mostly just for batteries. For sustainable energy batteries good to have, but not really big part of the solution. Electric cars are just not going to fix anything. What you need is robust and adaptable energy grid that can handle various energy sources and distribute it accordingly. Ofc main focus needs to be zero carbon energy sources. And you need to electrify stuff like heating and stoves for example. Then invest more in trains, metro and other stuff. Lithium is important, but it's actually quite small part of fixing our climate and energy issues.

Fun fact : Lithium accounts for less then 1% of all *efficient* car battery's, any batteries using more lithium is losing more of its efficiency. 😂 - Keyword _Efficient_ And the future isn't mining it ! - Its recycling all the minerals in the batteries per - *JB Straubel's Redwood Materials* Some people play checkers and some play chess ! *Vice News* your better than this !

As well all this lithium.Will proubely go into disposable battery products(cell phone batters,vaps etc.)Basicaly everything you see on the side of the road.That destroys the environment.

I was advised to diversify my portfolio among several assets such as stocks and bonds since this can protect my portfolio for retirement. I'm seeking to invest $200K across markets but don't know where to start.

The Mizpah hotel looks awesome! Where is that ?!

The issues have nothing to do with with "old" laws. It's as simple as someone prospecting areas they have a legal right to be on and "Staking out" a claim. Those stakes are nothing more than indicators of boundaries of the claim, so others do not "claim jump". The claim in fact does have to be turned into the government for recording and the land must be improved or maintained in order to keep your claim. It makes no sense to keep paying fees for a claim you will never use. I don't know where the idea came from there are no government agencies that deal with mining, where do you think you turn your claim into? As you can tell in the video, one person seemed completely angry over any discussions of mining and that was Patrick Donnelly, who is a member of a radical environmental group that no doubt will do everything in their power to prevent mining in the area. We don't know if there are enough lithium deposits in the area to make mining possible, but let's say there are. This is not the 1870's, NOBODY is going to be able to mine one grain of sand without endless lawsuits (see angry guy above) and government regulations being followed. There is a good chance that NONE of these claims are worth the time and money it will take to get past the lawsuits. The largest Lithium mine, if it ever actually starts is the Thacker Pass Mine in Northern Nevada, where serious prospecting was done in 2007. 16 years later it STILL is not running, as they have been battling radical leftist in court. The courts have just granted the mine another legal victor but you can expect another appeal.

I believe that lithium is going to a history very soon because is many company working in a more clear mineral and more efficiency here in the United States

How about we just get rid of our dependency on cars??

Cannot stake minerals in NY. Specifically gold. Even if you own the land and rights, it is stated that ANY gold found in NY State is the property of the state. This is complete Bulls**t in NY.

You forgot to mention DRC supplies 70% of global supply... Which all goes to China and what's happening there is just appalling 😢😢😢

Australia has easily the top three mining operations for almost every mineral and guess what, they have the same claim-staking practice. So surely the issue is something else?

We need great, gorgeous journalism like this, vice! Great piece!

Lithium is 3 on the periodic table it's abundant you can extract lithium from sea water. it's not been claimed because up until now it's not been super scarce. Now for the green future we need to find high grade nickle deposits seeing how thats one of the main parts of any lithium ion battery.

I love how people just repeat “isn’t that the American way” after people react- um, no… the American way is actually the ability to change and grow with the times, not remain stuck on stupid.

the only problem with individuals staking claims is it makes it hard to act on the industrial potential in a unilateral way that a governing body can. it will take a lot longer to develop it into large scale production without federal funding and distribution deals.

I mean what the girl in the green dress said about things being ran by outdated practices is far too common in America for many things, its not 1787 anymore and many things that need to be updated never are. You could go stake as much as you want, but once its proven the area is profitable some crooked politicians will use a loophole made in 1896 or whatever fits narrative X to screw people and fill their back pockets

Remember kids, Water makes Lithium go BOOM!

hoping they don't use children as labor

This ended so abruptly I thought the credits rolling was due to a glitch in the video :/

If you're not willing to do what's required and get down and dirty and actually put your feet on the ground that you want to claim then you should be denied such claim. I suppose you want an app for that. The law keeps people from claiming everything.

Why is the United States Government not claiming all that Lithium and then paying Nevadans for it like the people of Alaska each get a check for oil or the way Norway handles oil proceeds and gives that profit to its citizens? Also as a native Nevadan, I always heard Tonapah pronounced Tona-PAH, (heavy on the Pah.) Is that not correct?

GREAT REPORTING, ONCE AGAIN VICE NEWS. I JUST SUBED❤

That is like when a foreign country visits your country plants their country's flag in the ground and tells you, "You are all American citizens now in the name of their country or King.

It make sme laugh so hard when the little guy gets a leg up over an entire industry so the entire industry must pretend as if that doesn't exist or is wrong somehow.. I'll bet that dude with the lithium land will be kept on the back burner til the end on purpose then they'll buy him out with next to nothing when his land is almost worthless, sad American dream going on.

Its in australia for cheap i dont think its likely to be mined in US not worth it.

Key element is actually nickel. And lithium is number 3 on the periodic table for a reason. It’s everywhere