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One ‘lithium mine’ erroneously compared to oil well
The claim: Images show comparison of lithium mine and oil well
An April 3 Facebook video (direct link, archive link) shows an image of an oil rig in a green field followed by an image of an open-pit mine. Text in the post labels the mine as a “lithium mine.”
“For all you people out there who think oil wells are bad for the environment, check out the difference between a lithium mine that’s for your battery and an oil well,” says a narrator.
Commenters took this to mean oil wells are better for the environment than lithium mines.
The post was shared over 100,000 times in six weeks.
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Our rating: Partly false
There are some open-pit lithium mines, but the image in the post depicts a gold mine. The oil well is correctly labeled, but experts say the attempt to compare it to lithium mines is flawed.
Post shows a gold mine, not a lithium mine
The purported “lithium mine” in the video is actually the Southern Cross Operation near Marvel Loch in Western Australia. The same image featured in the post can be found on the website of Minjar Gold, the company that manages the mine.
There is no evidence lithium is being mined from this pit. The companies that own and manage the mine specialize in gold extraction.
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However, lithium has been found in other hard rock mines in the region, said Steve Enders, the mining engineering department head at the Colorado School of Mines.
Another mining company acquired several “tenements highly prospective for lithium” in the same region, according to the Riversgold Limited website. Neither Minjar Gold nor Barto Gold Mining responded to USA TODAY’s request for comment.
Experts warn against comparing lithium and oil
The misidentified mine isn’t the only problem in this post, though. Experts say the comparison it attempts to make is also flawed.
It is not logical to compare the environmental impact of oil wells to lithium pits, said both Enders and Ian Lange, an associate professor of economics and business at the Colorado School of Mines.
“One oil well does not represent anything except one oil well,” said Enders. “You need an entire field of oil wells to be able to produce significant amounts of oil. It’s just a whole different scale and type of work.”
The materials also serve different purposes: oil wells contribute to energy production, while lithium is primarily used in batteries for energy storage.
“This is totally an irrelevant argument,” Enders said. “Lithium is mined to support battery technology. Oil and gas are produced for more direct energy production. Lithium – it has nothing to do with energy production. It’s all about energy storage.”
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People who want to make this argument should focus instead on what source of power is being used to charge the electric batteries, Enders said.
“Does that come from oil and gas, coal, solar, wind energy, nuclear?” he said. “You can charge that battery from any energy source.”
USA TODAY reached out to the social media users who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
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