This Pennsylvania company claimed it could extract lithium from fracking wastewater. It might have made things worse

Eureka Resources idled a facility, canceled plans to build another, and intends to sell or close two more.

When a new study suggested that vast quantities of the critical mineral lithium could be found in Pennsylvania’s fracking wastewater, Eureka Resources seemed perfectly positioned to take advantage of the frenzy of publicity that followed. In 2023, Eureka announced it had extracted 97% pure lithium carbonate from fracking wastewater.