Viral post critical of electric cars mistakes copper mine for lithium mine | Fact check

Trump’s campaign plans to drill for oil and mass deport are at odds

The claim: Photo shows lithium mine ‘for electric cars’

An April 14 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shows one image of a pit mine and another of a grassy field with cows and a single oil pump. The first image is labeled, “lithium for electric cars,” while the second is labeled “oil for cars.”

The meme was shared 16,000 times in a week. The claim spread widely in other posts as well.

Start the day smarter. Get all the news you need in your inbox each morning.

More from the Fact-Check Team: How we pick and research claims | Email newsletter | Facebook page

Our rating: False

The comparison is faulty because the first picture shows a facility that primarily mines copper. It does not mine lithium.

Photo shows copper mine

Hollie Brown, a spokesperson for the Utah Department of Natural Resources, told USA TODAY the mine in the post looks like Rio Tinto Kennecott (also known as Bigham Mine), which is located in Utah. Both the shape of the roadway and the location and specifications of a building at the bottom of the mine shown in the post match Google Maps and Google Earth images of Bingham Mine.

The facility does not mine lithium, according to Brown. The Rio Tinto Kennecott website says the facility mines copper, gold, silver, molybdenum and tellurium.

The transition to electric vehicles stands to significantly increase lithium mining, which is an environmentally destructive process. However, a 2023 report found that this new demand can be significantly reduced by investing in public transportation and lithium battery recycling and decreasing the average size of EV batteries.

Fact check: CO2 emissions from gas cars outweigh electric, even with battery manufacturing

Rio Tinto, the company that operates the mine, did not respond to requests for comment. USA TODAY reached out to the Facebook user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Lead Stories also debunked the claim.

Our fact-check sources:

• Hollie Brown, April 19, Email exchange with USA TODAY

Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or e-newspaper here.

USA TODAY is a verified signatory of the International Fact-Checking Network, which requires a demonstrated commitment to nonpartisanship, fairness and transparency. Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Meta.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Viral post critical of electric cars mistakes copper mine for lithium mine | Fact check