North Carolina is home to the Carolina Tin-Spodumene Belt (TSB). The TSB is the only lithium mineral deposit of its kind in the United States, and one of the most important lithium deposits in the world. The spodumene found in Gaston, Lincoln and Cleveland Counties has been an important source of lithium in the past and the region was the world’s largest lithium producer from the 1950s to the 1980s.