As the need for critical minerals like lithium and magnesium grows, scientists are looking for new ways to extract them. Rather than trying to pull them out of the ground, researchers at the Pacific Northwest National Lab are working to pull those minerals out of seawater.

The team has created a system to extract magnesium hydroxide from seawater, which can then be processed into magnesium metal for cars, airplanes and construction materials.

Chinmayee Subban is a chemist at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. She joins us to share more about the effort to mine ocean water.

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News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/10/30/think-out-loud-pnw-scientists-extract-minerals-from-seawater/