A lithium deposit found in a volcanic crater along the Nevada-Oregon border may hold up to 40 million metric tons of the rare metal – perhaps the largest ever in the world, which could have major implications for the electric vehicle industry, according to a new study.
Deposits hidden in the McDermitt Caldera are estimated to hold between 20 million and 40 million metric tons, which is nearly double the current record of about 23 million metric tons found this summer beneath the Bolivian salt flat, researchers report in Science Advances.
It would also increase America’s total lithium reserves, which were previously estimated at just 1 million metric tons.
Belgian geologist Anouk Borst said that if the estimates prove true, America’s sudden glut of lithium – a metal sought after by electric vehicle makers – could have a global impact.
A deposit estimated to hold between 20 million and 40 million metric tons of lithium has been discovered in the McDermitt Caldera along the Nevada-Oregon border.
A construction worker builds a pipeline for Lithium Nevada Corp at the Thacker Pass deposit. AP
“It could change the dynamics of lithium globally, in terms of price, security of supply and geopolitics,” Borst told Chemistry World. “The US will have its own supply of lithium and the industry will have less to fear about supply shortages.”
Electric vehicle makers are bemoaning estimates that supplies of the “white gold” will dwindle by 2025, with China, the US and several South American countries competing to find large deposits to meet growing demand.
Paul A. Jacobson, GM’s chief financial officer, told investors in mid-June that they “already have that risk” of not getting enough lithium, explaining that GM had bought a stake in the mining operation.
While EV makers are working to boost America’s lithium mines, members of Native American tribes are protesting the upheaval of the land in search of white gold. AP
America’s current lithium reserves amount to only 1 million metric tons. AP
“We need to have partnerships with people who can give us the lithium in the form that we need,” Jacobson said.
The rush to acquire the white gold has also been exacerbated by President Biden’s clean energy agenda, which calls for EVs to make up about 50% of all cars sold by 2030.
The administration has pushed to invest $7.5 billion in EV charging stations across the country.
A sign near McDermitt, Nev., calls for no lithium mining. AP
Thomas Benson, a geologist at Lithium Americas Corporation who co-authored the new study, expects mining could begin in McDermitt Caldera by 2026.
Researchers from Lithium Americas Corporation, GNS Science and Oregon State University explain that the unique conditions of the McDermitt Caldera explosion 16 million years ago created ideal conditions for lithium-rich particles to form.
Nevada itself has been a hotbed for lithium deposits, but the site has seen opposition, with conservationists, Native Americans and even NASA pushing to restrict mining in the area.
The McDermitt Caldera mine is located next to the Thacker Pass mine, which has seen protests from the indigenous Paiutes tribe and court challenges over the past three years.
Meanwhile, NASA voiced its opposition in June to mining the Railroad Valley tabletop flats because its undisturbed position is key to calibrating the measurements of the hundreds of satellites orbiting Earth.
With Postal wire
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
