TerraLithium, an Occidental subsidiary, and BHE Renewables have produced lithium chloride from geothermal brines at BHE’s Calipatria geothermal plant in California’s Imperial Valley and converted it to battery-grade lithium carbonate. The partners have also directly converted lithium chloride to lithium hydroxide using a commercial-scale electrolyser at TerraLithium’s Brawley R&D facility in the US’s second-largest geothermal field, validating high-purity output against commercial processing standards. BHE Renewables plans to build, own and operate full-scale lithium production facilities in Imperial County once technical and economic feasibility is proven.

Kazakh steel and mining company Qarmet has installed an almost total underground visibility system at its eight former ArcelorMittal coal mines in Karaganda, combining helmet‑mounted cameras with live location tracking of every miner on a central control‑room schematic. Pre‑shift “health booths” at the portal process about 50 workers per hour, checking blood pressure, pulse, eye fatigue and alcohol, with roughly 1% barred from descending, and all footage stored on 1 TB helmet units and uploaded after each shift. The in‑house system, developed by teams of about 30 per mine, is paired with a privately funded medical centre delivering around 200 check‑ups a day, but raises unresolved questions about consent and long‑term use of pervasive surveillance in a company town setting.

China’s lithium carbonate futures on the Guangzhou Futures Exchange have fallen nearly 10% over two sessions, dropping a further 2.4% on Monday to about 157,000 yuan/t, as traders bet on a restart of CATL’s Jianxiawo mine in Jiangxi. Authorities have issued a preliminary, limited land-use assessment for the site, which has been offline since its permit expired in August 2025 and is estimated to supply around 3% of global lithium output. Citigroup notes that while a restart could pressure prices, Q3 battery capacity additions should keep the market tight.