$1.5 trillion lithium deposit found in U.S. supervolcano crater — site could supply batteries for decades

Scientists reckon that the McDermitt Caldera might hold the largest deposit of lithium ever found. Situated on the Nevada – Oregon border, this huge crater was formed when a magma chamber collapsed around 16 million years ago. Estimates point to there being between 20 and 40 million metric tons of lithium-rich clay at this site. The deposit could be worth $1.5 trillion at current prices, says Earth.com, and be ample to supply the lithium battery industry (gadgets, cars, Powerwalls) for decades. Moreover, it is undoubtedly a resource of strategic significance.

Investigations into the size and nature of this deposit were led by Thomas R. Benson, PhD, working on behalf of Lithium Americas Corporation (LAC). The research suggests that several million years ago, a supervolcano situated about 28 miles north to south and 22 miles east to west along the Nevada-Oregon line formed a large crater, after its magma chamber collapsed in the wake of a violent eruption.

Subsequently, thick sheets of hot ash cooled on the caldera floor, and a lake was established for eons, collecting volcanic ash and mud sediments. Volcanic activity continued, though, with mineral-rich hydrothermal water being carried upwards into the lake sediments.

Millions of years later, the lake long-gone, we are left with a variety of materials, with high concentrations of lithium within. For example, at the Thacker Pass, there are potassium-rich and lithium-infused clay bands that are 100 feet thick. A significant amount of high-grade lithium-holding clay is also close enough to the surface to allow for open-pit mining.

Strategic and industry importance

Of course, it is good for nations to have key industrial resources on their home turf. The U.S. wasn’t lithium-barren before this discovery, but it has been largely reliant (strategically speaking) on the Silver Peak Mine in Nevada since the 1960s. Last year, we reported on significant deposits of 5.1 to 19 million tons of lithium being found in Southern Arkansas, though.

Some analysts expect lithium global demand to expand to 8x the world’s 2022 output by 2040. So, commercial mining of newly discovered deposits in places like the McDermitt Caldera and Southern Arkansas could be extremely important for U.S. interests in the coming decades. Moreover, lessons learned during this supervolcano find could help unlock many more deposits.

Lithium's importance could decline, though. Battery tech is being continuously improved, with refinements to both lithium-based and alternative chemistries being frequently flagged by researchers. Some of the most promising lithium-ion alternatives still have a way to go, though. Sodium-ion batteries show promise, based on this far more abundant element, but are currently second-class in terms of energy density (and thus cell size/weight) and cycle life. So it looks like lithium will continue to be the best choice in the near term.

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