Twelve enormous crystallizers fabricated by Great Basin Industrial in Plymouth, Utah, are traveling about 600 miles to Thacker Pass in Nevada, a major U.S. lithium deposit. The oversized loads began moving Aug. 24 along a route that includes U.S. 50, the “Loneliest Road in America.” Transportation planning took more than a year and included inspections of roughly 1,300 miles of roadway across four states.
Designed by Aquatech International, the crystallizers perform the final step in the mine’s planned lithium production process. They combine a purified lithium solution with soda ash and control temperature, timing and chemistry to produce solid, high-purity lithium carbonate crystals.
The vessels weigh 80,000 to 180,000 pounds apiece, range from 35 to 79 feet long and are approximately 21 feet high and wide. Great Basin Industrial used 304L stainless steel and 2205 duplex steel; 65 to 80 of its craftworkers worked on the project. Processing began in April 2025, field fabrication followed in June 2025 and the company completed its work in June 2026.
“This company was founded by welders, and it still runs on welders,” said J.D. Oldham, the company’s president and chairman. “Every one of those crystallizers came out of the hands of the fitters, fabricators, machinists, and welders at our Plymouth shop.”
