The future is Dilithium and found in a meteor debris at the south pole
This is an instance where the press release and the actual publication tell different stories.
The publication is almost entirely theoretical in nature, using estimated lithium concentrations obtained by others. It makes no attempt to clarify that the lithium is not in elemental form. To their credit, they do indicate the heavy contamination with other light metals - especially magnesium.
Manufacturing highly purified elemental lithium from fracking wastewater will be difficult and expensive.
U.S. Department of Energy Analysis Confirms California’s Salton Sea Region to Be a Rich Domestic Lithium Resource
Analysis Concludes the Region Could Meet the Nation’s Need for the Critical Mineral through Extraction from Geothermal Brines Using Innovative Technologies in Development
The key phrase, for me, in that press release is "with expected technology advances ..... by 2050". I'd love for this to happen. Although I doubt we'll see this happen within 25 years.
Hope those aren't the same scientists that said climate change would flood major cities by 2010 and that we would run out of oil by 2020 ...
They aren't very good at predicting years.
The trouble with hyperbole in science is that it drives folks away from all science.
Agreed. 100%
When they use hyperbole or absolutes ("you will not get covid if you take this vaccine") it erodes trust quickly as it is demonstrably able to be disproven.
The only drawback some may see is it would depend on the oil and gas wells continuing to operate. When you factor in the Permian Basin in New Mexico and Texas which is already confirmed to have one of the largest untapped lithium deposits on earth, there really isn't a reason for us to not produce lithium for domestic use rather than relying on foreign sources. Hopefully, this will prompt us to investigate other waste processes to find previously overlooked sources. I have heard (but can't cite the source, so take it with a grain of salt) that there was quite a bit of lithium in the powder river basin, much of it trapped in tailings and rock waste from coal mining. It might be worthwhile to investigate it to see if it is feasible to extract lithium from mine tailings as well.
Another area I have seen promise is the use of Sodium to make batteries for EV's (I would assume that could be scaled to other types of batteries as well). If this proves feasible it could solve a couple of problems. Desalination of water is becoming more cost efficient rapidly, The holdback has been what to do with the extracted salt, as dumping it back in the ocean at such high concentrations could cause an ecological disaster. Now it would seem that salt could be used in batteries and other postproduction products, eliminating the need to return it to the sea, supporting a move towards an electric economy, and also address water issues in our desert and arid states like Arizona and New Mexico. Just some food for thought.
"February 6, 2024
Construction of the first large-scale direct lithium extraction plant in the U.S. began last month in California's "Lithium Valley"— igniting potential to transform the Salton Sea area into a significant source of the material critical to energy transition."
Really it's our responsibility to be smart consumers...of both physical and informational items.
Anyone who trades in absolutes on almost any subject should be viewed with great caution. Except me, now.
You forgot the important "studies have shown..."
Dammit...studies have shown that you're right! 
Oh, I wasn’t doubting you. That is probably the easier area to move into production sooner. They had identified an area in the Texas hill country extending into the Permian basin that has been billed as the Saudi Arabia of lithium. To my knowledge there is no production yet, just exploration.
I didn't take it that way, thanks!
I was just pointing out that it might not be as far in the future as we think.
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