California-based Controlled Thermal Resources (CTR) is seeking an additional $1 billion in project financing as it seeks to buck the trend of lithium mining companies cutting back on project capacity and delaying production targets. CTR is sourcing the additional money for a project in the Salton Sea in California, which is home to rich lithium brines. The timing is admittedly slightly weird, with some major lithium producers cutting back on production plans following an 80% year-over-year price reduction. CTR is banking on the fact that its project is relatively unconventional by current standards, incorporating the use of geothermal energy into the processing of the brine while selling off the development’s electrical energy into the ever-hungry California energy grid. Brine projects…