Pyrite, known as fools gold, may now be a real treasure [Video]

The shiny mineral that’s long been slandered as fool’s gold may turn into a legitimate treasure in the race for green energy resources. The transformation isn’t the result of alchemy, though. It’s because of a surprising find recently made by scientists in West Virginia.

Researchers working in America’s mineral-rich Appalachian region say they’ve found a connection between pyrite — the “fake” gold you might’ve gotten chunks of as a souvenir when you were a kid — and lithium, one of the most in-demand metals on the clean energy market. Lithium is an essential component of the batteries that power electric vehicles, but also laptops, phones and other electronics that use rechargeable batteries.

A team from West Virginia University was studying rock samples in the area when they found “plenty of lithium in pyrite minerals,” according to a press release from the European Geosciences Union, published on April 15 by the American Association for the Advancement of …