Thursday, September 13, 2012

USA, California:

Imperial County Planning Commission Approves Hudson Ranch II Geothermal Plant (Imperial Valley Press)

The Imperial County Planning Commission voted in support of Hudson Ranch II  geothermal plant on Wednesday. If approved by the Board of Supervisors, the plant will be located about 3 1/2 miles west-southwest of Niland. 

The commission also approved Simbol Materials' Calipatria Plant II, a project that would operate adjacent to the Hudson Ranch II to extract resources such as lithium, manganese and zinc from brine pulled by Hudson Ranch II. These materials are needed for cars, laptop and cell phone batteries, to name a few.

Simbol Calipatria II will make Imperial Valley the third largest producer of lithium in the world, said Paul Gutwald, Simbol Materials vice president of marketing, “ahead of China, Argentina and even Bolivia.” Moreover, the project will create about 90 jobs, he said adding his company is also investing in paving roads and signalization.

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