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ACTIVITY CALENDAR
Anza-Borrego Desert Natural History Associaton
P O BOX 310, Borrego Springs, CA 92004 760-767-3098
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Important Program
Information
Unless
specified otherwise in the activity descriptions below, all hikes and
field trips have a
15 person limit and they begin in the
ABDNHA parking lot.
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SPECIAL DESERT LECTURE SERIES WEBINAR
Apr. 25, Thu., 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Lithium and
the Salton Sea
Speaker: Jim Turner, Director and
Chief Operating Officer of Controlled Thermal Resources
The webinar is free but registration is required:
REGISTER
The webinar is free but registration is required:
REGISTER
ABDNHA's webinar in 2022 with Jim Turner about lithium
extraction at the Salton Sea was our most highly
attended webinar ever. Controlled Thermal Resources
(CTR) is one of three companies that will be extracting
lithium from facilities on lands just south of the sea.
Construction of CTR's plant is now underway. Jim
returns tonight with an update on lithium extraction at
the Salton Sea, an explanation of how the extraction
will take place, and background history of geothermal
power production at the sea. For millions of years the
Salton Sea basin has been stretched and pulled apart by
the action of the San Andreas fault, resulting in what
is called the Salton Trough.
For all of those
millions of years water has poured in from the surface,
water that is rich in minerals. At a depth of 8,000
feet below the surface vast amounts of superhot water,
or brine, holds one of the richest sources of lithium in
all of North America. The geothermal industry has made
use of that that hot water for decades, extracting the
hot water from deep beneath the earth, using the steam
to generate geothermal electricity, and then pumping the
water back down into the earth.
Lithium
extraction adds one step to that process; lithium is
taken out of the water before it is pumped back down.
Lithium is essential for the needs of America’s electric
future, for electric vehicles, computers, solar power
storage, batteries, and communication. The Salton Sea
basin is America’s largest source of the important metal
and one of the world’s largest, with annual production
estimated to be as much as 600,000 tons. There are very
few large sources of lithium in North America. The
extraction process of removing lithium from super-heated
brine 8,000 feet below the surface also has the
potential to make the Salton Sea lithium extraction
process one of the greenest lithium mining projects in
the world.
May. 23, Thu., 6:15 pm – 9:00 p.m.
Last event of the Season: Sunset and Moon Rise at Fonts
Point
Leader: Mike McElhatton , ABDNHA Program
Director
This is a very informal get together in
a beautiful location marking the end of ABDNHA's
2023-2024 desert season. Everyone is welcome and
there is no charge but the activity is limited to 22
people.
Registration required.
Call to reserve, 760-767-3098.
This event was becoming ABDNHA’s
traditional end of season activity until COVID
interrupted. Tonight we pick up the tradition again.
Please be at the ABDNHA parking lot and ready to
go no later than 6:15 pm. We will make carpool
arrangements as needed and will leave the ADNHA parking
lot in time to drive to Fonts and be set up with our
chairs and snacks to catch the fullmoon rise over the
Borrego Badlands at 7:19 p.m. Then we enjoy the
scenery, the company, and the sight of the moon over the
badlands, and catch the sunset at 7:45. We can
then spend a little more time, as everyone wishes, and
should be back in Borrego by 9:00 PM at the latest.
Bring folding chairs and snacks or other food to share
and whatever beverage you prefer. We would like
to have a few small tables; if you have one, please give
us a call (760-767-3098) or let us know when you
register so we can coordinate.
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