Building America’s Geothermal Lithium Supply | Controlled Thermal Resources’ Rod Colwell

2025-11-13

Here's our (Howard, Matt, and Rodney) summary of today's conversation with Rod Colwell, CEO of Controlled Thermal Resources (CTR), about the new subsidiary American Critical Resources (ACR) and the path to U.S. lithium and critical-minerals supply from California's Salton Sea (aka "Lithium Valley"). Chapters (00:00) CTR Salton Sea News & Listing(02:26) Rod's Background & Project History(04:51) Salton Sea vs. Other Brine Plays(07:03) Handling Complex Brine & DLE Setup

Chapters

(00:00) CTR Salton Sea News & Listing
(02:26) Rod's Background & Project History
(04:51) Salton Sea vs. Other Brine Plays
(07:03) Handling Complex Brine & DLE Setup
(11:45) Why Spin Out American Critical Resources
(13:41) Market Shift, Lithium & AI Demand
(16:11) CapEx, Multi-Mineral Potential
(18:12) FID, Equipment & 2027-2029 Timeline
(20:07) Studies, Permitting & OEM Offtake
(24:57) Funding Strategy for $2B Build
(27:13) U.S. Policy, Geothermal & Security Angle
(35:37) Data Centers, Power & DLE Flow
(43:47) Closing Remarks

What we cover

- ACR formation & listing plan: Board-approved, targeting a U.S. public listing (NASDAQ/NYSE) in mid-2026 to house CTR's critical-minerals platform.

- Why a separate listing? Distinct investor bases for geothermal power and minerals; clearer value proposition for each.

- Resource & flowsheet: Super-heated geothermal brine (~600°F wellhead) provides power and process heat. CTR emphasizes pretreatment (iron/silica removal) and polymetallic recovery (zinc, manganese, silver, others) before DLE. Rod cites 700+ hours of steady-state DLE runs at 70–80°C and focus on a single, integrated flowsheet.

- Scale & footprint: ~6,000 acres under control; high brine flow rates; plan to scale from tens of MW to gigawatt-class geothermal over time.

- Permitting status: Local permits in hand; FAST-41 track with one remaining Clean Water Act federal item outstanding.

- Commercial partners & markets: Strategic relationships with GM and Stellantis (flexible offtake pathways). Separate CTR deal framework with Baker Hughes for ~560 MW of geothermal targeted at data centers/AI; active PPA discussions.

- Products beyond lithium: Pathways for zinc & manganese (incl. sulfate micronutrients), silica (cement/hardscape uses), potash, plus investigation of cesium/rubidium and rare earths. Rod cites a target ~108 kt/yr combined stream for certain metal products as part of the initial scope.

- Process chemistry shift: Re-optimizing toward lithium carbonate (lower capex vs. hydroxide), removing ~$110m from capex vs. prior design assumptions.

- Capex, timing & volumes: Approx. $2.0B total for Stage 1 (includes power, pretreatment, polymetallics and lithium). Stage 1 target: ~25 ktpa LCE + ~50 MW power; COD mid-2027 (power) and 2028 (lithium & polymetallics); potash in 2029. FID ~12 months from financing completion.

- Financing: CTR has ~$285m raised to date from ~260 accredited/sophisticated investors. Current private raise $150–200m; overall equity stack ~ $600m alongside 60–70% project debt contemplated.

Key investor angles we probe:

- Salton Sea vs. Smackover and other brines: different chemistries; CTR's edge is process integration, temperature management, and pretreatment quality.
- Execution focus: Long-lead equipment already staged (e.g., steam turbine/generator, separators, switchgear) to accelerate the power-first schedule.
- AI/datacenter pull-through: Baseload geothermal plus stationary storage demand could become a second growth engine beside EVs.
- Domestic supply & national interest: FAST-41 status, White House engagement, and broader U.S. critical-minerals onshoring themes.