The U.S. will need far more lithium to achieve its clean energy goals — and the industry that mines, extracts and processes the chemical element is poised to grow. But it also faces a host of challenges from environmentalists, Indigenous groups and government regulators.

Although lithium reserves are distributed widely across the globe, the U.S. is home to just one active lithium mine, in Nevada…

The drive for more domestic lithium has opened the potential for mining and extracting in states beyond Nevada. An Australian company called Piedmont Lithium wants to develop an open-pit mining project it has proposed for the Kings Mountain area west of Charlotte, North Carolina…

California’s largest lake, the salty and shrinking Salton Sea, is also primed to host lithium operations…

In Maine, Plumbago Mountain in the western part of the state has attracted mining interest.